


Avening angel

by Fleppy85



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 45,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24965815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fleppy85/pseuds/Fleppy85
Summary: Criminals in Las Vegas, who went to trial but weren't convicted, are found dead. Sara is sure somebody takes the law in their own hands. Does the city have an avenging angel?
Kudos: 1





	Avening angel

Tuesday, April 17

When Greg saw the results of the last DNA test, he shook his head and ran the test again. Getting the same result like the last time, he considered for a second to walk over to Mandy and let her check the example again. Something must be wrong. Serious wrong. The result he got couldn't be right.   
"Are you done with the DNA test?" Grissom came into the lab.   
Great, his boss. When he showed Grissom the results he'd lost his job. His boss would never believe what he held in his hands.   
"Greg?"  
"Uhm…no…"  
"What's in your hands? Aren't these the results?"  
"Something must be wrong with…the test."  
"Why?" Grissom took the paper out of Greg's hands and read it. The young CSI was ready to defend himself, even when he had no idea how and why. He didn't do anything wrong.   
"What did you test?"  
"The example you gave me, I swear. I…I tested it double."  
"Clean the machines and run it again."  
"I beg your pardon?"  
"What part of my order did you not understand?"  
"I understood every word…"  
"So, run it again. And get Mandy to run it with you. No offense, but with these results, I want two on the tests." He read what was written on the paper. "Are you really sure you used my DNA example?"  
"Evidence number thirty-five, single hair, found on victim. To see on various crime scene photos, yes I'm very sure I tested the right DNA example. You can check all evidence if you want, I started with the hair, the rest is still sealed."  
"Clean the machine, run it with Mandy again and come straight into my officer afterwards."  
"Yes Sir." Greg turned to get the cleaning products. He doubted, no, he knew, the results would be the same even it was impossible. But also that there had been a cross contamination. 

"Maybe we should run the test again." Mandy said when they looked at the results they got from the hair.   
"It's the third time it got tested and every time with the same results." Greg had no idea what to do. He cleaned everything, they worked together on the hair and still they got the same result.   
"But this can't be right."  
"Tell me about it. I've to go and tell Grissom, he won't be happy with this. Got a good explanation why we get this all the time?"  
"No…nothing that makes sense."  
"Good, we're both on the same level. Do you want to go and tell Grissom?" He offered, hoping to get around this job.  
"No way, he told you to come over, you go. I try to get some DNA work done to impress him, show him, I'm capable of doing my job."  
"Thanks." He took the paper and went over to Grissom's office. How to tell his boss that nothing has changed. On one side it was good, it meant, the work he did the first time was all right, he didn't make a mistake, on the other hand, this result meant, something was wrong with the case. Or their machines.   
He knocked on the door. "Grissom?"  
"Got the new results?"  
"Uhm yeah…"  
"Come in, show them to me." Uncertain if he should close to the door, he came in, handed Grissom the paper and decided it was better to stand up. Easier to escape out of the office.   
"This is the new result?"  
"Yes. I cleaned everything, Mandy and me did the test and nothing has changed. Sorry. We have no idea how this is possible."  
"You know what this means?"  
"Something is wrong with the machine?" That was the easiest explanation, the one, that didn't get him in trouble.   
"It means when we get a suspect, this goes to trial, it can blew the case…"  
"Hey, go any news?" Brass came into the office.   
Grissom looked at him with a stoic face. "Close the door."  
"What? Why?"  
"Just do it."  
"Okay." Brass closed the door and looked interested at his friend. "So, what do you've got for me? Which secret?"  
"It's more a problem. We got a match for the hair we found at the scene."   
"That's not a problem, that's great. Who can the city of Las Vegas thank for disposing this scumbag?" Their victim was a well known drug dealer, who was suspected to kill a few people. So far all LVPD tried to get him, didn't work out, he always got away, had the best lawyers, bought alibis and witnesses suddenly disappeared when they were supposed to go to trial against him. In Brass's eyes the city was better off without the latest victim and should thank whoever did this.   
Grissom handed him the DNA results. The color left Brass's face when he read what was written on it.   
"You're sure this is correct?"  
"We tested it three times, cleaned the machine, everything. All we got was this, it's correct even when it's impossible."  
"You're right." Brass sat down, his eyes still on the paper. "We do have a problem. Who tells the Sheriff?" 

After his shift was over Greg went to a place, he hadn't been for a while and wandered around. It was nice and quiet here, a lot of flowers, green, only a few people at this time of the day, mostly elderly people. Why did he not come here more often? It wasn't a bad place, a little bit sad, you saw very seldom somebody happy or laughing. In front of a white stone he stopped, sat down with crossed legs and looked at the stone.   
Maybe it was a dream, all a bad dream. A long nightmare, he wondered when he finally woke up. How long could you sleep? Or how much time did it take until you realized your dream wasn't a dream but reality? His mind still didn't want to accept it was all real, all the pictures he saw in his mind. They couldn't be real, had to be a nightmare. When was it time for the alarm? Usually he didn't like it when he got waken up, in this case he wished, somebody woke him up and told him, it was just a dream.   
"What are you doing here?"  
He turned when he heard the familiar voice. "I don't know…I guess…I needed a place…I try to wake up and come back to reality."  
"This is reality."   
"I know. What are you doing here?"  
The blushing told him, he hit a sensitive spot. A question, that answer was very personal. "I come here almost every day."  
"Really?"  
"Yes."  
"Why?"  
"Because." She placed a rose in front of him, before she sat next to him. "I can't believe it's true. Sometimes…sometimes I sit here for an hour or longer, try to find answers, explanations why I have to sit here. It makes no sense, it's not fair and I haven't accept it as reality, as a matter of fact. Then there are days when I hope it was all a mistake, that when I come here, I read another name."  
"It's always the same one."  
"It's always the wrong one." Sara swallowed. She had never been a fan of graveyards, but since three months she spend a lot of time here, just sitting here, looking at the white stone in front of her, wondering why happened what happened. It wasn't fair, it made no sense and she wished there was anything - really anything - in the world she could do to make everything undone, turn back the hands of time and change what happened that one day. But thing like time machine didn't exist, at one point she had to accept what happened was final. Life wasn't fair all the time and death was never fair. 

"Did you hear what happened to our case?" Greg asked after they for a while in silence side by side.   
"No, any news?"  
"Yes…or lets say, there's something that made me come here."  
"About the new case? What is it?"  
"DNA."  
"You found DNA? We know who the killer is?"  
"Yes and no."  
"It's not in any system?"  
"It is…but it's not possible this person is the killer."  
"Why? DNA doesn't lie." Evidence doesn’t lie. Grissom said this all the time and Sara believed the same. When you worked the evidence the right way, it told you what really happened, told you the truth.   
"In this case it does."  
"What does it say?"  
He looked at the white stone.   
"No, are you kidding me? It's not funny Greg!" She jumped up, started pacing around to lose her anger. Absolutely not funny.   
"No, it's not. I checked it twice, cleaned all machines, got Mandy to work it with me, we came up with the same result all three times. Her DNA."  
"It can't be her DNA, Sofia is…Sofia is dead." It was the first time Sara said these words out loud. Yes, Sofia was dead. She died four months ago, she saw it herself. Sara saw how the blonde detective died. They were working a case, worked a scene, when out of the blue a man on a cross motorbike appeared, shot at them and hit the blonde detective. It was a chest hit, two bullets to the chest and as it hadn't been enough, the blonde fell down an edge the river, that connected Lake Mead and Lake Mohave, less than a mile down of Hover Dam. By the time the other CSI and officers at the scene could go to the edge, look for the blonde detective, she was out of sight. Diver went into the river, boats checked the area, but no body was found. At this time it had rained a lot, a lot of water ran down the river. It was suspected that the body of the blonde was washed down to Lake Mohave and would be found there one day. The boats, they drove up and down the river didn't find anything, but it was impossible that the blonde survived the two gunshots and the fall, injured and bleeding. Even when she didn't die of the gunshot wounds, it was likely she hit her head on the sharp rocks during the fall. Some blood was found on the rocks later, it belonged to Sofia. They never caught the man, who was responsible for all this.   
"I know, but DNA says it's her hair. We have no explanation for it, Grissom and Brass have to tell the Sheriff."   
"How is it possible that Sofia's hair ends up on a victim of a crime scene?"  
"On the man, who was likely the reason why she had to die." Greg added. They suspected that the man on the motorbike was a killer, sent by their latest victim. Carlos Mundez. He was responsible for most of the drugs that came into the city from Las Vegas. A week before Sofia worked a case against him, stopped a truck with drugs worth over two millions dollars, Mundez wasn't happy about this, he couldn't be connected to the drugs, but everybody knew, they belonged to him. It was very likely the shooting was his payback. A life for two million in drugs.   
"Yeah…this sounds too much like a movie to me."  
"It sounds like a bad setup. But who sets up a dead detective? And how does anybody get Sofia's hair?"  
"I don't know…somebody must have gotten his hand on it."  
"Is her apartment…do you know what happened to it?" Greg was a little bit ashamed that he didn't keep in contact with Sofia's parents, didn’t know what happened to the apartment of the blonde. After it was clear the blonde was dead, he tried to forget everything about it.   
"Her parents sold most of the stuff inside, gave the money to charity, also the rest of the furniture and clothes, the couldn't sell and the apartment is sold to somebody else."  
"Maybe somebody bought her clothes, found a hair and used it to set her up, not knowing the hair belonged to a…a dead cop."  
"Strange coincidence."  
"Got a better idea? Explanation why her hair ended up on a DB?"  
"No…but I'm glad Mundez was killed. I don't care who killed him, I'm only happy he got was he deserves. Although a bullet to his head is too easy, not painful enough."  
"According to the evidence it was Sofia."  
"Good luck catching her." Sara said with bitter humor.   
"Chasing a ghost - like in the movies. In fact, we are still chasing her, but not her back to life body, her dead body. I wonder when they find it so we can say hello and goodbye to something. A stone without anything of Sofia under it, is so…sad…sadder than when you have something to come to, when you want to remember somebody."  
"You come to the same you to now. It's not like you see the body."  
"Doesn't it give you more comfort when the one who died, is in the grave?"  
"No, it gives me more comfort when the one, who is responsible for the death of the other person, pays for it. Mundez paid for what he did to Sofia, I feel better now."  
"To take the law in your hands it's not what we should support…but I understand what you mean."  
"What will Grissom and Brass do? About the DNA and the case?"  
"I don't know, if we don't find any other evidence about the killer, we have to put the case aside. It's not like Mundez will be missed."  
"No, we have more important cases." Sara offered her hand to him. "Come on, lets have some breakfast and go home. I bet Sofia doesn't want us to miss out too much sleep."  
"Is that an invitation into your bed?"  
"No."  
"I bet Sofia would like me to be in your bed."  
"If I were Sofia I'd punish you for this from my grave. Or wherever I were. Just slap him, Sofia, he deserves it." Sara smiled a little bit. And be happy that the man, who ordered your death, paid for it. If you meet him somewhere, make him pay again. 

Sara came into work earlier today, she wanted to know what was going on with Greg's case. Sofia's DNA on the victim, the man, who ordered her death. It was not possible, there had to be an explanation why Sofia's hair was at the scene, on the victim.   
"Griss, got a minute?"   
"Sure." Grissom looked on his watch. "You're early."  
"Yes, I had a few things on my mind." She sat down. "Greg told me about the DNA result in his case…have you found out, how it was possible?"  
"There's only one explanation, it was Sofia's hair. Don't ask me how it got there, we have no idea for that. Jim and me talked to the Sheriff, we're supposed not to talk about the case in public, means, it stays between the Sheriff, Jim, Greg, Mandy and me. Don't talk about it with the others until we know more. The Sheriff doesn't the public to know, we don't need articles in the newspaper about a revived police detective, who killed her murderer. Or the man, who is likely to be the contractor of her killer."  
"Hollywood will come along and make a movie out of it."  
"Great, we didn't have cameras follow us for a while, I don't miss them."  
"Neither do I…Griss, did somebody talk to Captain Curtis? Ask her what happened to Sofia's belongings? Maybe Mundez killer wore Sofia's clothes and lost a hair. Or was in her apartment, took some hair out of the brush and used it last night. Frame a dead cop and you get away with murder."  
"I'm not sure if we should tell her parents about it."  
"Why? They should know. As far as I know they sold the apartment, but if they haven't, somebody could have been in there, found Sofia's hair and placed it on Mundez."  
"Sounds a little bit like Hollywood too."  
"Got a better explanation? One not supernatural explanation?"  
"No." He sighed and thought about her words. "We both go to Captain Curtis. If she agrees and if the apartment isn't sold, you have a look around, I need to be back when the shift starts. In case we have an apartment to look at, you stay there. When one of the guys ask you where you are or were, you worked a scene, don't tell them what you did."  
"Okay." If he wanted to keep this a secret case, she'd close her mouth. It wasn't like it changed anything when the rest of the shift knew about the evidence. All that happens when people heard about those things was, they started to talk and came up with strange stories, that got out of the building and out of hands. And then, Grissom was right, they had a revived detective, who killed her killer. 

"Captain Curtis, I'm very sorry to interrupt your evening." Grissom said when Sofia's mother opened the door. Sara hadn't seen the captain for a while and was shocked about the women, who stood in front of them. Sofia's mother looked at least ten years older, lost weight and wasn't the impressive women, she used to be, anymore.   
"Grissom, what can we do for you?"   
"Could we come in? We need to talk to you about…a case."  
"Don't you have with Jim a captain, who knows enough?"  
"He does, but this is…personal."  
"A personal case for you? Since when do you get involved with your work?"  
"Not only me, you too. It's more personal to you than to me."  
"More…did you find Sofia?" There was hope in the voice of the elderly woman, even when she knew, all Grissom and his team could find was a body. Yes, it was important for most people to have the remains of their beloved one.   
"Could we talk about this inside?"  
"Of course." For the first time Captain Curtis looked at Sara. "Miss Sidle, when I'm not mistaken."  
"Yes. Good evening, Captain."  
"Come in." She guided them into a living room with a big dinning table. On a sideboard were photos, many of them showed Sofia. It made Sara sad to see those happy memories of her former colleague.   
"Mark, Mister Grissom and Miss Sidle from the crime lab are here, they need to talk to us about a case of a private matter."  
"Did you find Sofia?" Sofia's father was a tall man with gray hair and ice blue eyes. The same eyes Sofia had. There was hope in his eyes, like he was close to get waken up out of a long bad nightmare.   
"No, we haven't found her body, I'm sorry." Grissom said. "But…we found the body of Carlos Mundez this morning, he was shot."  
"The man, who ordered the shooting at the scene? And killed our daughter? May he rot in hell. I'm sorry I didn't kill him myself." Sofia's mother said.   
"Who killed him? I'd like to thank this person."   
"That' the thing, Mister Curtis. We found a hair on the body of Mundez."  
"So you know who the killer is."  
"There's a little problem…or more a big problem."  
"What is it?"  
Grissom looked at Sara. How to tell Sofia's parents? Straight forward or carefully? Was there a careful way?   
"The hair on the body was tested for DNA and the result, which were tested three times by two very experienced CSI, came back to Sofia." Sara said.   
Captain Curtis starred at her for a long moment. "Impossible, are you telling me our daughter is alive?"  
"I'm telling you, we found a hair that belonged to Sofia…"  
"That can't be." Sofia's father said. "It's impossible."  
"We think the same, but the evidence doesn't lie. Captain, can you tell us who got all of Sofia's belongings? You said, you wanted to sell them, same with her apartment. Do you know who got the things? Our only explanation so far is, whoever got hold of Sofia's belongings, found one of her hairs and placed - or lost - it on the body, not knowing to whom is would lead us."  
Captain Curtis sat down, looked at the photos. A hair of her daughter. Like she was alive. It wasn't easy for a mother to accept that her child before she did. It wasn't the way it was supposed to be, not the way nature planned.   
"We couldn't sell her belongings. We didn't have the heart to sell everything, give it away. It reminds us of our daughter, we…we just couldn't let go. So we promised each other, when her body was found and she had a decent funeral, we sell everything."  
"Does that mean her apartment exists and is empty?" Sara asked carefully.   
"Yes. We locked it, we go there once a week and…it's a place, that brings us closer to her. We're not ready to let go." Mark Curtis explained. "Do you think somebody broke in there, took the hair and place it to frame our daughter?"  
"It's a possibility. When was the last time you were at her place?"  
"Four days ago, the place looked exactly like we left it a week ago."  
"Is it possible for me to have a look inside? Look for fingerprints, any traces of B&E? You can come with me and be there." It wasn't procedure to have family members around, they were a risk, could destroy evidence, but it was a police captain she talked to. She knew what to do and what not to touch.   
"Seeing you going through her things…I think I prefer staying here. But you need me there, I can tell you if something is missing, I know her things." Marie said.   
"I come with you, Darling."   
"Thanks. Let me give you the keys. You know where the apartment is?"  
"Yes." Sara had been there once or twice.   
"Lets go there, have a look around. Mark, I'm afraid we both have to wait outside first, Miss Sidle needs to make sure, there's no evidence, we can destroy. Every scene belongs first to the CSI."  
"I'm aware of that. Will you join us too, Mister Grissom?"  
"No, I go back to the lab. We keep this to us, I don't think you want articles about your daughter in the newspaper, how she comes back like an average angel and kills her own killer."  
"No, we don't. We'll keep this to us too."  
"Thanks. Sara, work the scene, call me when you're done or need any help."  
"Okay." She took a deep breath. Her case for tonight, her scene for tonight, was Sofia's apartment. She wasn't sure what to think about this, how to handle it. Probably it was the best to continue step by step, see what happened next and act by it. 

"Let us know when we can come in." Captain Curtis leant on the wall outside Sofia's apartment and gave Sara the keys.   
"Thanks." Carefully she opened the door and stepped inside. For a few moments, she took the time to feel the apartment. It felt empty, lonely and there was sadness in the air. Everything was tidy, there was no garbage, no dust, no paper laying around. It looked like an apartment in the internet, ready to sell, but still with a touch of living inside. With the difference, nobody lived in here anymore.   
All right, she wasn't here to think about old times, before memories of Sofia could take over, she better got started. A hair. The first to look was into the bathroom, check the hairbrush. She knew where the bathroom was, had a look inside, went to the bedroom, looked inside there and went back to the front door. Sofia's parents waited for her to get called in.   
"I can't see any sign of B&E, everything seems to be where it belongs. Come in, but please don't touch anything yet."  
"I brought them." Captain Curtis pulled a pair of gloves out of the pocket. "Just in case."  
"All right." She went back into the bathroom, opened a cabinet and found the hairbrush. There were several hairs on the brush. She bagged it to take it back to the lab. "Did you change the sheets in the bedroom? Or the towels?"  
"Yes, we put on her favorite sheets…a silly thing to do, but it made us feel better. And we also changed the dirty towels, everything was supposed to look nice and clean, in case…" Mister Curtis stopped, knowing that what he was about to say sounded ridiculous.   
"In case she comes back?" Sara smiled sympathetically. "I think I'd done the same. There's always hope when you haven't seen any proof of what can't be…this hair we found, it can't be Sofia's and yet, the evidence tells us exactly this."  
"Yes…do you think she's still alive?"  
Sara's first intention was to say it was impossible. She had been there, had seen how Sofia was hit and fell, she couldn't imagine the blonde survived. But she also couldn't imagine to find a hair of her on a scene and it happened. "I believe that when Sofia survived, which seems absolutely impossible, you've been there a few times I bet, you know what happened, know where she fell, it's not possible. But if she survived, I'm sure she'd come back and let us know she's fine. She loved you, she'd come home and let you know she's all right."  
Captains Curtis fought with her tears, swallowed a few times and nodded. "Thanks, Miss Sidle. I like to think the same." She cleared her throat. "Shall we have a look into her wardrobe? If any clothes are missing?"  
"Yes. I take the hairbrush with me to the lab. You get it back as soon as I'm done with it."  
"Thanks."   
Sara followed Sofia's mother into the bedroom, leaving Sofia's father in the living room, where he looked at photos, lost in his own thoughts. It was impossible not to feel the pain of these two people and it got harder and harder to ignore her own pain.   
Wearing her gloves Captain Curtis opened the wardrobe and looked at the clothes. Slowly her eyes went over every piece, stopped at one or two for a longer moment, remembering Sofia wearing it, before she looked at Sara. "Nothing is missing."  
"Okay."  
"You know." The other woman pulled a shirt out. "She loved this shirt. When…when we find her body, we want to bury her in it…do you think we'll ever have a body to bury?"  
"I'm not sure, Captain. After all the months in water, fish and other animals around, it's more likely, we find only bones. It's been a while."  
"Feels like yesterday…you were there…"  
"Yes and I feel very sorry that I couldn't do anything to help her, protect her."  
"She was the detective, it was her job to protect you. There was nothing you could do, he had a gun, she was too close to the edge…bad luck."  
"Not bad luck, a planned killing. He was shooting at her first, then at all the others to buy himself some time to get away. She was the target, we all were only around, not worth a second thought. If we had our guns out faster, had hit him, got faster to Sofia…"  
"No, Sara, there was nothing you could have done. Believe me, I've been through this a couple of times. Nobody could have saved her."   
"I…I don't want to accept she's dead." Sara swallowed hard to fight her tears. Stay professional, this is a case and not a…she got pulled into the arms of the other women.   
"Neither do I."   
Great, now they were both crying. She was here to find evidence that somebody broke in and stole Sofia's hair and not to cry and get back to memories, she hoped that she had locked them far away a while ago.   
"What size do you have, Sara? Is it okay when I call you Sara?"  
"Sure. Uhm…why?"  
"I'd like you to have the shirt."  
"But…"  
"Please. Take it and I'd like you to have this." Captain Curtis opened a little box and got a ring out.   
"No."  
"Please, it was her favorite, her lucky charm. She said, whenever she wore this ring, dreams came true and wonders happened. My little girl, sometimes she was dreamer."   
"Captain, I…"  
"Please call me Marie."  
"Marie, I can't take this."  
"Yes you can. I saw you Sara, many times. You go often to Sofia's grave, the place her stone is."  
"Every day." Sara mumbled, a little bit embarrassed. She had been watched by the captain. Marie. When she sat at Sofia's grave. Did the other woman hear, how she sometimes talked to Sofia?   
"Take the ring, maybe it's your lucky charm too. Otherwise it's here and gets forgotten. Keep it, keep the memory of her."  
"Thanks." Sara slipped the ring in her pocket. She couldn't wear a ring at work. "We should continue, I don't want to keep you awake for the whole night."  
"Believe me, we haven't really slept in a long, long time."  
"Sofia would want you to sleep."  
"I know, but…it's not easy. Where would you like to continue?"  
"I look for prints on the doorknob, but I'm afraid, if anybody was inside, he or she wore gloves. Who is clever enough to break in without leaving any traces on the lock, is clever enough to wear gloves."  
"You might be right on this…and I don't think somebody was in here. We had seen when something was changed. It all looks the same, like last week."   
Sara nodded. She hoped nobody had been in here, had taken anything. This was a sanctuary for Sofia's parents, having a stranger walk through it, would ruin everything. Now was the memory of Sofia here, the spirit of the blonde lived in here, when an intruder was here, he ruined that. 

When Sara was back in the lab she went straight into Grissom's office and closed the door behind her.   
"Did you find anything?"  
"I took the hairbrush, that's all. The place looks like last week, according to Captain Curtis nothing is missing, nothing looks like it was touched. I checked the locks, none looked like somebody used tools, only the usual scratches from keys. Want me to work on the hairbrush and compare the hair to the hair we found at the scene?"  
"Yes. Anything else helpful?"  
"No." Sara saw he had crime scene photos on his desk, recognized Mundez. She took the photos and looked at them. "I don’t think somebody lost the hair, look how obvious it sit in the middle of his chest. This hair was placed there, we were supposed to find it."  
"That's what I think. Two questions: who and why."  
"My supervisor told me once, why isn't important for us, only who. We're supposed to find out who did it and not why. Why doesn't matter." He told her this, those were his words. And he knew it.   
"Does it not matter to you?"  
"It does, but who matters more."  
"Find me both answers, Sara. Who and when you found who did it, find out why. I don't think it means something."  
"Yeah…point the finger on Sofia, make her a heroine? She freed the city from Mundez? A sign for the police, they couldn't make the killer of their colleague pay, somebody did. A sign for killers, this was only the first, I get you all?"  
"If the last case is true we'll get more bodies, Las Vegas has more than one bad guy."  
"Yes, we'll have a serial killer, who kills killers. When the public hears about this, we will chase a modern Robin Hood, who brings justice to the city. A kind of justice, a lot of people want. We won't get many help from them, they'll try to make it more difficult for us. Imagine, he, lets make this a man, most serial killers are men, he kills a pedophile, who killed or abused a few children. Parents will make him a hero, will hope he continues his work."  
"We better find him soon."  
"Yeah, find a person, we have nothing on. Nothing easier than that. I wrap the case up until tomorrow morning and you give me a nice pay rise."  
"I'm sure if you'd close the case this fast, the Sheriff himself would give you pay rise."  
"In this case I start with the hairbrush and see what I find." She got up and left the office. No, it was impossible to close the case within the next hours, they had nothing that pointed towards the killer and apparently nothing useful came back from trace, otherwise Grissom had said something.   
She sat down in a room, put the bag with the brush on the table and pulled the ring out of her pocket. A simple golden ring. Carefully she turned it in the light. There was something engraved inside the ring. With a magnifying glass she read what was written: veritas & justitia. Truth and justice. Two things, that were very important to the blonde, very important for everybody, who worked law enforcement. Every day they were supposed to find out the truth, bring justice to the people…justice…Sara remembered Sofia had a little cat, a red one, she named Justice. It must be with the blonde's parents.   
Enough time wasted with thoughts, it was time to go back to work. They needed answers and if there weren't any, she had to move on to another case. Unfortunately they never ran out of cases. Somebody always broke the law. 

Thursday, April 19

"We haven't found out anything, I ran the hair myself again, it's a perfect match. The same length than the ones in your hairbrush, my only explanation is, somebody got into your apartment without leaving traces behind and took a hair. Who? Who wants to frame or connect you to a murder scene? To the murder scene of the man, who is responsible for your death? Not to forget, the death of many other people too. Many people are happy Mundez is gone, not only his enemies, parents, whose kids use drugs, I mean, we all know it doesn't take long to replace one drug dealer with another, Mundez is already taken by somebody else, but I like to believe, for a moment the city was a better place.   
Talking about better places, how is the place where you are now? Any good? Do you get your beer there? Or is it all water and to celebrate a juice? I've no idea…if this place exists at all. Still can't believe you're supposed to be there and not here anymore…we had a rough start which as mostly my fault…it was my fault, not mostly, but the last months we became friends, didn't we? We talked a lot, met after work for breakfast and…I really miss you. A lot. Every day when I go to work, I expect you to come into the room or see you at my scene. In my head you're still here. Does this make me crazy? Not more than talking to a stone."  
Sara took another look at the stone before she slowly got up and walked back to her car. Talking to Sofia's grave like she talked to a person. Maybe she was losing it a little bit, but it felt good to talk, only talk, let all her thoughts out, like somebody listened without giving her any feedback. Was it a kind of therapy? Perhaps. Whatever it was, that made her come here every day, it helped. She had been angry, mad, desperate, lost and ready to let go, all over the blonde's grave.   
To finish what she had on her mind, she didn't drive back home but to Sofia's parents. It was early, not yet seven in the morning, both should be at home, preparing for work. She wanted to tell them about the case, even when there was nothing new. They had no explanations why the hair of the blonde was found at the scene, nor how it got there, who placed it on the body. No news and still she wanted to see them. Like sitting at the grave for a few minuets and talk, it felt right.   
"Sara, what a nice surprise." Marie opened the door.   
"Good morning Marie, I hope I don't interrupt you and your husband."  
"No, come in, do you want some breakfast?"  
"I'm not hungry."  
"Neither are we, but we got told we have to eat. Mark, look who is here, Sara."  
"Hello Sara, how are you?"  
"So far, thanks. What about you?"  
"Have been much better many days, have been worse too. Do you have any news for us?"  
"No, sorry. There are no explanations for our questions."  
"You wear her ring."   
Automatically Sara touched the ring, she wore on a leather chain around her neck. "Yes." It didn't fit her hand and somehow it didn't feel right to have Sofia's ring on her finger, she couldn't wear it at work anyway. This way the ring was with her all the time, she could work and when she felt the gold on her skin, it made her remember the blonde.   
"It will protect you, one way or another."  
"Hopefully. What crossed my mind the other day…what happened to Justice? I didn't see him in her old apartment and can't see anything of him here."   
"He's here. In her old room. The problem is, I'm allergic to cats, we can't let Justice walk through the house. Of course it's not a good solution to keep him in one room, but we couldn't figure out what to do with him. We can't just give him away, he was a part of Sofia's life. And…we have no idea how long he'll make it anyway."  
"Is he sick?" Sara remembered Justice as a very active and happy cat, never saw him slow down or sick.  
"Since Sofia passed…he barely eats, we tried everything, all kinds of food, we left him in the apartment, thought he prefers to be there, we have him here, nothing helps. He sees the vet at least once a week, gets injections to stay alive, but it's nothing we can do forever. The vet says we should let him Justice put down, he lost his will to live. But…I don't think Sofia wants us to give up on him. She loved him, he was her baby."  
"He was like a dog, followed her." Sara smiled a little bit. The two times she had been at Sofia's place, she was very amused watching the cat follow his owner all the time.   
"Yes…do you want to see him? He's upstairs, second door to the left."  
Sara nodded. "I think I have a look at him. Thanks." She went upstairs. Sofia's old bedroom, another place her parents kept as a memory. Sara wondered, for how much longer Sofia's parents wanted to keep the apartment, when would they get all the things, they wanted to keep into the old bedroom and sell the apartment.   
Carefully she opened the door and stepped inside the room. To her relief it wasn't a dream in pink. She never understood why some girls wanted a room in pink, didn't pictured the blonde as a girlie, but you never knew until you saw. Sofia's old room was medium sized, kept in white, a few white and red accessories, an old TV, computer, stereo system, wardrobe, sideboard, a queen sized bed. On the bed she saw something red. Only when she looked again she recognized Justice. The cat was thin, she could see rips and bones, the fur looked stump, like it hadn't been washed in ages.   
"Justice, what happened to you?" Carefully she sat on the bed, next to the cat. Justice didn't bother to lift his head, he only looked with sad eyes at her.   
"Oh baby, you look horrible, so skinny. You need to eat, do you hear me?" She took the cat in her arms and petted it. "You can't just lay there and wait for death, you can't. Sofia would be very sad to see you like this, she wanted you to be happy, healthy and enjoy your life. Remember how she always said you're her sunshine, her little baby? What would your mommy say when you don't stay alive? She'd be very sad when you give up on yourself." Softly she petted the fur, pressed Justice on her body. "Marie said you don't eat anymore. I understand you're sad, I understand you're not happy here in the room alone nor in your old apartment. But you can't give up. Don't make your mommy unhappy, don't give up on yourself. I know it's hard to believe and I know your heart broke because your mommy didn't come home, how are you supposed to understand why, we don't understand it and I was there. It's unbelievable. But we all have to go on, have to look after ourselves, it's what Sofia wants us to do. Remember how I fed you? How I offered you dry food and you ate out of my hand? Can you do it again?" Sara took a piece of cat food in her fingers and held it in front of Justice's snout. He turned his head away.   
"Come on, please. Just a little bit, do it for Sofia. Come on, eat. When you die it will break her heart, don't do this to her. Please. Try it. A little bit." She put the food in front of his snout again and again the cat refused to eat. He didn't fight her, just turned his head away.   
"Oh Justice, don't do this. Please. Come on, eat a little bit. The vet wants to put you down, don't give him a reason to do this. Eat. Do it for Sofia, she loved you so much, don't disappoint her. She always said you're a fighter, her little hero. Now you've the change to be a hero, show her you fight, for her. To make her happy." She tried it again, offered him the food. He couldn't give up, give up on everything, without fighting. This wasn't the cat, she saw jumping on shoulders, turning on the faucet itself. Justice was a bright cat, he didn't deserve to end like this, if Sofia knew her cat was supposed to be put down by the vet, it would break her heart.   
The tongue of the cat on her finger made her come back out of her thoughts. The food in her fingers was gone and Justice liked her fingers.   
"Good boy, come on, try another one." Happy with a little success she offered him a new piece and was over the moon when he ate it. "You're a good cat, come on, one more. If you want, I continue to feed you like this, whatever it takes to make you eat. We don't give you, do we? We want Sofia to be proud of us, be happy." She continued to offer him more and more food and he ate. Carefully, not with much gusto, but he ate it until half of the little bowl was gone. Then he lay back and closed his eyes.   
"You did good, very good Justice. I'm proud of you." She petted him, stroke softly over him, feeling his bones and rips. "It's okay to take a break, but you need more food. And don't forget to drink. Shall I give you some water?" She put the water bowl next to him, put a finger inside and offered the finger to Justice, who licked it dry. A couple of times they repeated this before the cat didn't want any more water.   
"That was a start, you did really good. I'm proud of you."   
"It's the first time I saw him eat and drink."   
Sara turned, she hadn't heard how Marie came into the room, her focus had been on Justice, make him eat and drink.   
"Only a little bit, but better than nothing."  
"You're good with animals."  
"I always thought they're the better human. He suffers, misses Sofia and doesn't understand why she's gone, doesn't come back to him. The same question I ask myself sometimes."  
"We ask this questions ourselves too…guess there are no answer, we accept. We understand why, in your head, but not in our heart. Sara…it's a strange question, but…do you want to take Justice with you?"  
"What?"  
"You made him eat, made him drink, that's more than Mark and me were able to do. At one point, very soon, the vet will refuse to give him the injections and then he'll starve to death. It wasn't much he ate, but when you can make him eat at least a little bit, he doesn't have to die. Sofia wouldn't want him to die. And when you make Justice survive, I think it's the best gift you can give our daughter. Please, take him with you, make sure he survives."  
She swallowed. Take Justice home with her? She wasn't sure if she could make the cat's living will come back or is he died at her place like he would here. It was a chance, they had nothing to lose because when Justices refuses to eat and drink here and the vet didn't want to continue his suffering, the cat had to die. Very soon. Exactly the opposite wanted.   
"Okay…but I've nothing for him at home."  
"We have all his things here, you can take them."  
"You think it will work out?"  
"It's his only chance."  
"Then I take him with me." She stroke over the fur. "Do you think you will like it, Justice? It's not the place you want to be, I'm not the person you want to be with, but maybe we can find a way to make it work somehow."  
"Let me pack his food and all his other things…you are allowed to have a cat?"  
"It's my condo, I can have a cat, yes. Do you want to be with me, Justice? We should ask you first. I promise I try everything to make it as nice as possible for you, if I have to, eat you like I just did, as long as you stay alive everything is fine. Show me what a great fighter you are, little tiger. Like you fought with the stuffed dog you had. Be a tiger." She took the cat in her arms and kissed the head. "Be a fighter like your mommy, she never gave up. Make her proud, fight too. I know deep inside you want to live, push all the other thoughts aside, you can make it and it's always worth fighting for something." A new housemate for herself. For a long time she had played with the idea of getting a pet, have somebody around when she came home, now she had a cat. Sofia's cat. Meant, from today on, a part of Sofia was in her condo, with her. 

"Welcome home, Justice. I hope you like it here. It's not your old place, but it's better than one room. You can jump on everything, make yourself comfortable wherever you want, eat all the meat you see. Just to warn you, I'm a vegetarian, so the only meat in this condo will be canned and your food." She opened the cat transport box, Justice was in for the drive from Sofia's parents to Sara's place. The cat didn't meowed, she expected him to complain, cry or be afraid, no, there was no sound coming out of his box. A couple of times Sara checked if he was still alive.   
Carefully the cat left the box and took a look around. For a moment his eyes were awake, interested until he realized, he wasn't home and his mommy wasn't here neither. He sat down and looked at Sara.   
"I know, I know, it's not what you wanted but…lets see if we can make this work out, shall we? Where would you like to sleep? Marie gave me your cat bed, you didn't use it at her place, only slept on the bed. Probably it reminded you of Sofia. I've got nothing that can remind you of Sofia…why don't I put your bed in my bedroom? And your toilette in the bathroom, like it was at Sofia's place. Your toys…shall I leave them here? And your bowl in the kitchen? We can eat together, you get meat and I get vegetables." She put his belongings to the place she thought they were right and went back into the living room. Justice sat at the same spot, she left him, looking at her, like he wanted to know, what he was supposed to do here.   
"This your new home, Honey." Sara sat down next to him and put him on her lap. "Your new home, for a new start. Maybe…maybe we need a little corner for you to remember Sofia…a photo or something." How crazy was it to print out a photo for a cat? Sara had no idea, but she was willing to try it. "Come on, I show you your bed." She carried Justice in the bedroom and put him on his bed. "Not good?" He didn't look like he was comfortable or happy to be here. His eyes were sad and restless.   
"Okay, lets try something else." She opened her wardrobe and pulled the shirt outside, that had been Sofia's favorite, put it on her bed and placed the cat on it. "This was Sofia's shirt, she washed it, so it won't smell like her, but it's her laundry powder. Maybe that helps a little bit." She watched him sniff the shirt and sat down. A start.   
"Good boy. Do you want to stay here or have a look around? And what about some food? Are you hungry?" She went back to get some cat food, put it into the bowl in the kitchen and poured some water in another bowl. He needed to eat and drink. What about milk? They say milk isn't good for cats, but she could get him to drink a little bit of milk, it was better than nothing. With a small bowl with milk and a slice of cheese she went back into her bedroom.   
"Milk and cheese, not perfect for a cat, but apparently you like these things anyway and frankly, I'm happy when you eat and drink anything at all." She broke the cheese in little pieces and put the milk next to her bed. "Try one." She held the cheese in from of his snout. Carefully he took it only to drop it.  
"You can have it later if you want, I put them all here on the small plate, leave on my bed and you can eat whenever you want. I better get myself ready for bed, you know, like Sofia I need to sleep during the day because I work in the night. You're welcome to stay on my bed and watch me, be my guardian angel." She stroke softly over his head and went into the bathroom. Time to catch some sleep and tonight she had to try to make him eat again. 

When Sara woke up Justice was next to her, he sat on the shirt and watched her with his green eyes.   
"Hey, did you sleep or only watch me?" She asked and petted him. "How do you feel?" She sat up and smiled when she realized the cheese was gone and so was the milk. A start. A small one. "You ate and drank, thanks for that, buddy. Did you also have some water and cat food? Let me check and then I have to get dressed and prepare some dinner for myself, I'm hungry." She left the bed and looked into her kitchen. The cat food was still in the bowl, it didn't look like he touched it at all. Well, he had the cheese and the milk. Maybe she could make him eat more later.   
She dressed and went back in the kitchen to prepare some dinner. "Justice, want some dinner too?" No answer, no cat. The oven on low she went back into her bedroom and found Justice on the shirt. "Oh Honey, you have to eat a little bit too. Please." She picked him up and carried him into the kitchen. With the cat in her arms she sat down and offered him a piece of his food. Instead of eating, Justice turned his head.   
"A little bit, come on." No success. "Oh Justice, what can I do with you?" She sat him in front of the bowl. "You have to eat, at least a little bit." He looked at her with sad eyes.   
Her cell phone beeped. "Give me a moment." She looked at the message she got. "We get a visitor. Maybe he can make you eat a little bit. Half of the bowl, you don't have to eat it all, only enough so we can make sure, you don't have to see the vet again. I don't want him to put you down. Sofia wouldn't want it. If you don't eat for yourself, eat for her."   
Her front door was opened and Greg called: "I'm here."  
"Kitchen!" He had a key to her apartment, Sara gave it to him a while ago, in case she forgot or lost her keys. Plus when something happened to her, she didn't come to work and didn't answer he phone, he could come in.   
"Why are sitting…is that Justice?" Greg looked at the cat. He had been over at Sofia's place a few times and knew Justice. Or the cat, who Justice once was. The skinny red cat with the dirty looking fur didn't look a lot like Sofia's cat.   
"Yes."  
"What is he doing here and why does he look like this?"  
"Because he was with Sofia's parents, but her father is allergic to cats and Justice refuses to eat. They took him to a vet a couple of times for injections, otherwise he was already dead."  
"You miss your mommy, don't you?" Greg sat next to Justice. "We all miss her, but you have to eat, otherwise you don't help her or yourself. Don't give up on you, be strong, we all have to be strong for her. Look, you have so nice food, why do not eat a little bit? Take a bite for this cute brunette, I know she's not your blonde, but the way I see it, she loves you too. Otherwise she hadn't taken you here. Sara Sidle doesn't take anybody into her apartment and you're not a guest, you're supposed to stay." He offered food to Justice, who turned his head away.   
"He did the same with me. This morning I made him eat a little bit and he had a slice of cheese and a little bit of milk."  
"You have to eat, buddy."   
"Stubborn like his mommy."  
"His new and his old mommy are the same when it comes to stubbornness, he fits in with you perfectly."  
"Very funny. What happened to your dinner? Are you going vegetarian tonight?"   
"Nope, there's some chicken breast in my bag, plain. If you want, I share it with you, Justice."  
"It's worth a try. We have to try everything to keep you alive, Justice." Sara got up and checked the food on the oven. "The veggies are almost done, you should start on the chicken. Want fries with it?"  
"Sounds perfect. Will you have something extra?"  
"An egg. Do cats eat egg?"  
"I'm not sure, I've to look it up, he's my first cat. The easiest way is to make him eat cat food, which seems not to be his first choice."  
"No food seemed to be his first choice. Cats are picky eater, Justice is a very bad eater, not a picky one." She smiled at the cat, sitting next to her. Somehow she had to get more food into his stomach. 

"I made him eat some chicken." Greg smiled. Four little pieces of chicken could he manage to talk Justice into eating. All together the size of two quarters.   
"Yeah, the amount he ate today is the amount he should have for breakfast." Sara sighed.   
"You do the best you can…where is he?"  
"My bed."  
"He knows where the good place is, that's a man."  
"I put a shirt of Sofia on it, Marie gave me the night we went through Sofia's apartment, since I put it out, he sits or sleeps on it. Must smell her washing powder. Poor boy."  
"You know, the final call is up to him, if he decides not to eat, we can't force him. He grieves, if he can't get over his grief, we can't do anything for him."  
"I know." Sara sighed. she was aware of the fact that Justice had to eat because he wanted it, otherwise there was no way he'd survive the next month.   
"Come on, it's time to go to work, he will be fine, he has food, water and a place to sleep. The rest is up to him. Are your windows closed?"  
"Yes, he can't get out." Worried the brunette went into her bedroom to find Justice on the shirt, laying on his side. "We have to go to work, Justice. I hope you will eat a little bit while we're away, I bring some chicken for tomorrow, maybe you want some more. Otherwise we need an appointment with the vet, he has to check you. Please, go and eat, don't give up. There's always a reason to go on…even when it seems not like it. Believe me, I know a thing or two about this."  
"And she does know a thing or two about fighting." Greg put his hand on Sara's shoulder. "Do it, fight. She's worth it. You fight, you give your life a second chance, she'll make you have a good life."  
Sara put her head on Greg's shoulder. "Take care, Justice. I try to be back home on time." She wished she could stay here on his first night at a new place. 

Sunday, April 22nd

Sara looked at the body in front of her feet. No need for a verification, she knew who the man was. Andre Tyler was well known in Vegas, a famous man. Famous for no good reason. Tyler was a rich man, who owned a casino and the police knew him, because he was suspected to launder money for the mop and responsible for half a dozen dead people. At least.   
"He won't be missed." Greg said.   
"Not from our side of the law, the other side might miss him. He was very useful for one or two families."  
"Mob families, who share the same man to wash their money. I didn't think it' possible."  
"Maybe one of these families didn't want to share anymore, he wanted the money of both and got a bullet."   
"A third eye." Sara got on her knees to have a better look at the wound. "Looks like a nine millimeter. Where's David?"  
"I'm here. Sorry, I didn't find this place immediately."   
"Hey." Sara smiled. They were in a little alley, five miles south of The Strip. No a popular area, a surprise the body was called in.   
"I know this guy!"  
"We all do, Andre Tyler. I've no idea how often we had him in interrogation, his lawyer got him out all the time. He's a slimy guy, you can't grab him."  
"Now you can." David checked liver temperature. "He's been dead for around four to five hours, TOD was around midnight. COD is a gunshot wound to the head, from what I can tell you at the moment. Can you help me to turn him?"  
"Sure." They turned the body. "No exit wound, we have a bullet."  
"Did you check the body for a long blonde hair?" Greg asked.   
"Why?"  
"Because…it's not that long ago we found a man like Tyler dead, also shot."  
"You want to connect both killings?" Sara furrowed her brows. She checked the body, didn't see a hair so far and was sure, Tyler had a couple of enemies.   
"It's a possibility - like a mobster killer."  
"Exactly. We don't need another case with…no evidence to work." She almost said with Sofia's DNA, but it was a secret. Grissom's order not to talk about the case with anybody was still there and she doubted, they'd get another case with another hair. Even when nothing was impossible, that was something they learnt from the case.   
"I've got a wallet." David opened the wallet. "Andre Tyler, license is inside and so are the credit cards, no money. Whoever killed him took the cash too." He dropped the wallet into an evidence bag Sara opened for him.   
"Maybe we get some prints."  
"Patrol found his car a block south." Brass came back. "Locked, untouched."  
"He has no keys in his pockets." David answered. "Whoever took his money, took his keys too."  
"Means somebody is looking for his new car. How long is he dead?"  
"Four to five hours."  
"Strange, the car is a block away, you don't need this long to find it and I bet, whoever killed him, watched him come here, knew from which direction Tyler came. How comes the car is still here?"  
"The killer wasn't interested in it?"   
"Why take the keys?"  
"A souvenir?"   
"You think we're dealing with a serial?"  
"I don't know…two dead bad guys in one week, make me think somebody cleans up the city in another way the Sheriff prefers it. A modern Robin Hood."   
Sara bit on her lips. Greg's words reminded her of her conversation with Grissom, didn't they say the same? A person, who kills all the bad guys turns into a modern Robin Hood. An avenging angel .  
"So we might be chasing Robin Hood? What am I? The Sheriff of Nottingham?"   
"More like the Captain of Nottingham." Sara said. "I think we shouldn't go ahead of the evidence. We have nothing that proves this case belongs to another one. Tyler had many enemies, lets collect more evidence and work it in the lab."  
"You spend a lot of time with Grissom."   
"There's a reason why he wanted me here."  
"Yeah, I always wondered about this…"  
"I listen to what he says, Jim, that's the secret. Now you know it and can do it too." Sara grinned and got up. "David, would you agree when I say by the lack of GSR, the killer must have been at least five yards away?"  
"Yes."  
"Means they kept a distance. A person, he didn't know? Didn't trust? There are no defensive wounds on him, I didn't see trace under his nails."  
"Maybe the killer didn't give him a chance to react. They had an appointment here, Tyler waits, the killer come down the alley, pulls the gun and shoots Tyler before he reached him. No talk, no chance for our vic to run away. Walk down the alley, hands in your pockets, pull the gun and boom - we have a dead man more."  
"No silencer needed, nobody sees or hears anything in this neighborhood."  
"Who called it in?"  
"Male voice, didn't leave a name, sounded like his voice came from a computer."  
"The killer himself?"  
"Why would he do that?"  
"When Tyler was a statement. There are more than two mob families in Vegas, it could be a killer of a third family, taking away the money guy of the others."  
"We don't need another mob war." Jim sighed.   
"We do need less people like Tyler on the streets, but I prefer to see him locked up instead of with a hole in his head."  
"See the bright side, he doesn't cost the tax payer any money after we're done with our work." Greg said. "His family has money, they pay for the funeral and we have a problem less."  
"Give it a week and they have a new place to launder their money." It never took a long time until a man like Tyler was replaced. The mob couldn't afford to wait for a long time. 

Sara hated to admit it, but the longer she worked her case, the more she thought, Greg could be right when he said, this case and the one, with Sofia's hair, could be related. She had no idea how far trace was with their evidence, all she had, didn't give her any clues, who shot Tyler. There was nothing on the clothes of the man, that told her about another person, nothing. Also no long blonde hair.   
"Hodges, tell me you found something." Great, she needed him to keep going, to give her any ideas.   
"I always find something, Sara." Smug as usual Hodge took a sheet of paper. "The trace you found on his shirt…"  
"Before you start a long monologue, all I want are the results, not their history, I don't have time for a long story. Make it short and good."  
He raised his eyebrows, but saved them a comment. "Traces from his car seat are found on his jacket. His shoes tell me he walked around Las Vegas, no signs of any out of city activities, but they were very clean, I guess, he lets them clean every day."  
"Basically you have nothing new, nothing that helps me to know, who killed him."  
"All I can give you is what you give me. Give me more and I give you more."  
"We don't have more. The only evidence of the killer we have is the bullet. There was no trace of somebody else, I don't expect to find a cigarette butt at a crime scene anymore, but what about some oil of a second car? The cartridge case or anything else, that gives us a clue."  
"Maybe the bullet or the weapon are used for another crime. We talk about a mobster, they don't change their weapons every time they shoot somebody."  
"He worked for the mob, wasn't a mobster and I'm afraid, they're smart enough not to use the same gun. It's not like they ever run out of guns." She sighed. "I see Bobby, maybe he has some answers for me." How was she supposed to close cases when there was no evidence left behind?   
"Hey Bobby, do you have anything on the bullet of my victim?"  
"Nine millimeter, ran it, came up with nothing."  
Not again. "Are you sure?"  
"Absolutely."  
"Okay, thanks." She took his results and went to Grissom. Maybe her boss had an idea.   
"Grissom, do you have a minute?"  
"Sure, what's up?"  
"This case…the Tyler case…we have nothing. Hodges can tell me, Tyler walked around Las Vegas, not a big surprise. Bobby has nothing on the bullet. It's a nine millimeter. The only trace on Tyler is from his car seat. We have nothing. Tell me how somebody shoots a man and leaves nothing behind? Except for a bullet, we can't work with."  
"Sounds like your killer knew Tyler. I checked up on him, he had a bodyguard, who was with him, when he went somewhere. Where was he when Tyler was shot? If Tyler told him to stay home and went to the alley alone, he must have had an appointment with somebody he knows. One of his mob family members. We can't really say how close the killer came, more than five yards, less than ten, even when it's dark, you get a pretty good idea of who is walking towards you. Especially when you expect somebody you know. He must have known the killer, otherwise he had defended himself. Usually he wore a gun, in your report you don't mention a gun."  
"Because there was no gun. Like there were no keys and nobody touched his car, that was only a block away. It was the only expensive car in the neighborhood, when the killer took his keys away, he had no problem taking the car too."  
"Maybe he wasn't after the car. Find out what kind of keys he had on his chain. Maybe it's about something else, a key to a post box, he keeps information. Two mob families, both don't like each other. You get your hands on information about the other family, have the chance to get them into trouble, you cooperate with the police. Give them some information about what the others are doing and the police does the rest of the work for you. A competitor less, more money for you and the law does the work for you.   
I'm sure he was killed for a reason, he was killed by somebody, who knew him. Or at least he was ordered to get where he was killed by somebody he knew. His keys were gone but his car was untouched? Find out more about the keys and the bodyguard, work with the things, that weren't there but should have been there."  
"Okay, I get the bodyguard in…" She paused for a few seconds. "We don't have any evidence of the killer, like at the case with Sofia's hair. If the hair hadn't been planned on the body, we had nothing there neither. Do you think there is a possibility these two cases are related?"  
"We have no evidence, it would be stupid to say, they weren't related, like it would be stupid to say, they were related. Continue your work, see what the evidence tells you. The evidence you have, and the evidence you should have."  
"Okay. Thanks." She got up. Time to get the bodyguard in and ask him, why he wasn't with his boss, while he was shot. If life was easy, the bodyguard was the killer and they could close the case. For some reasons, she didn't feel like life was easy. There was more to this case, like she was somehow sure, there was another reason why Tyler had to die. She couldn't picture one of the families doing it. They both needed him, he did good work for them. It had to be somebody else. But who? Who left no traces behind? 

"Mister Bakersfield, we found your boss a few hours ago, dead. What you tell me about this?" Sara asked when she had the bodyguard in interrogation.   
"I had no idea he's dead…are you sure?"  
"Yes." He didn't seem to be very upset. Sara had the feeling, she could have told him about the weather and got the same reaction. "You were supposed to make sure nothing happens to him, how comes you weren't with him? Or were you?"  
"I was with Mister Tyler until ten pm last night, after that he sent me home."  
"Where were you both at this time?"  
"His place. He said, he wanted to work from home and didn't need me anymore. His house has a very good security system and he's safe there…did he die at home?"  
"No, in an alley south of the Strip. Any idea what he was doing there? Around midnight?"  
"No, like I said, he told me he wanted to stay home and work there."  
"Have you ever been with him in this area? Around five miles south of the Strip."  
"Not that I can recall it."  
"He had you as his bodyguard, I take it he had a lot of enemies?"  
"A couple, yes, comes with the job."  
"He worked for two mob families…"  
"He owned a casino, he wasn't a criminal."  
"Oh please, we all know why he owned the casino. It belonged for years to the Roberto family, they sold it to him so they had a place to launder their money. What they didn't know was, he also worked for the Baggio family, kept them as clients. The casino made enough money to launder for both families. We all know it."  
"He was never convicted. In America you're innocent until a jury says otherwise."  
"His lawyer is pretty good and somehow witnesses didn't talk a lot, when it came to trial. What we want to know, do you know anybody who wants him dead? Who would kill him? Who was the biggest threat, on whom did you have an eye?"  
"People, who lost their money in his casino and blame him, Verduzzi was pretty pissed, Baggio got a hotel, he wanted and he blamed everybody, who was connected to Baggio. Tyler and Baggio were friends, so he was at risk. Plus all the cops, who wanted him in a cell with a needle." Bakersfield grinned. "Got an alibi for your cops?   
"You're in a good mood for the fact your boss got killed tonight."  
"He was a boss, it wasn't my fault. Actually I'm quite happy he sent me home, otherwise I could be dead too. Whatever he did there, whoever he met, I'm glad I wasn't around."  
"Strange comment for a bodyguard. Shouldn't you say, you wish you were there and saved your boss's life?"  
"I thought I'm not supposed to lie to you." He smiled. "Listen, Tyler was a boss, not a good one, the money was all right. He's dead, I'm not. I can take another job, there are more people, who need bodyguards. It's not like I lost a friend. He could be a real asshole, ask his ex wife, she hated his guts. I'm sure if she was in the alley with him, she shot him."  
"Why should she call him into this alley?"  
"Tyler had the habit of picking up cheap chicks, alley cats. He saw a short skirt, he was horny, he didn't think, only fucked whatever was around. Maybe somebody told an alley cat to call him, he went there and instead of fucking his brains out, he got a bullet in his upper brain."  
Upper brain, not lower brain, interesting choice of words for a man. "What kind of weapon do you have?"  
"Now I'm your suspect? Great. A Magnum, .22. It's registered, you can check it if you want. I cleaned it the last time a week ago, it hasn't been fired since then. Want to check my hands and clothes for GSR? You can also do this, I've got nothing to hide. Oh, and I've got an alibi for the time from half past ten until your officers picked me up. I was with my fiancé, we called her parents around eleven, they live on Hawaii, you can check the telephone list too. Just because I'm not crying my eyes out for Tyler, it doesn't mean I killed him."  
"Believe me, we'll do all these things." Sara smiled thinly. He wouldn't be the first man, who told her, he had nothing to do with his dead boss, offered all his help and in the end, he was the guilty one. 

"Did Bakersfield tell you anything useful?"   
"Only that he won't miss his boss. He has an alibi, I checked it, he didn't do it. Reckons his boss was killed because a woman called him to have some fun and he was shot before he could get what he came for. Apparently he fucked everything when he was horny without thinking a lot. That got me thinking, maybe he fucked the wrong woman and that's why he had to die. Imagine he had his hands and more on one of the mobster women."  
"In this case a bullet to the brain was a gentle way of killing. We found nothing at the scene, that helps us to identify the killer."  
"No evidence…we call it a night?"  
"Yeah, time to go home. How is your tiger doing?"  
"Not good. I can barely get him to eat a little bit, have to take him to the vet today, he needs an injection, I've no idea what to do with him. For him."  
"You bought chicken for him?"  
"Chicken, pork, beef, everything. Marie was over, she tried to make him eat, didn't work out. We even played a video of Sofia for him, nothing. He listened to her voice, it didn't make him eat, I had the feeling, it made him even sadder."  
"Will you let the vet put him down?"  
"No, I can't." Sara thought about it, thought about ending Justice's suffering, but she couldn't do it. Unless he ate a little bit, there was a small life will left and as long as this one there, she'd do everything to make him stay alive.   
"Does he still sleep on her shirt?"  
"Yes, nowhere else. Her shirt is his bed, Marie brought me a few more things of Sofia, another shirt, a pillow case, I placed them all over my apartment, but he prefers the shirt. Like she did. Do you think he knows it was her favorite shirt?"  
"I've no idea how smart cats are. All I know is, they suffer. He's the best example."  
"Are there shrink for pets?" Sara knew it was a crazy idea, but she'd prefer it to the vet, who was likely to tell her, it was time to put Justice down.   
"We can google it. Want to take him there?"  
"Better than the death. Okay, I go home and see what he's doing. Want to come along tonight for dinner?"  
"Sure, I love dating you."  
Sara laughed. It wasn't a date, it was dinner with a friend and he knew it. Getting two muffins from the bakery and a bagel she went back home.   
"Jus, where are you?" She called out, not expecting the cat to greet her. Eating her muffin she went into her bedroom. Justice lay on the shirt and looked at her.   
"Did you chase all criminals away? Good boy. Want some muffin?" She offered him a tiny piece of muffin, not expecting him to eat it and was surprised when he ate it. "Wow, you like muffins? I doubt they're very good for you, but if you eat it, I give you more." She offered him another piece and he ate it again. Crump by crump he ate until half of the muffin was gone.   
"I'd love to give you all, but I'm afraid it will be bad for you. Did Sofia feed you muffins sometimes? I never thought she'd share her sweats, can I get you some cat food? You know we have to see the vet today, I don't want him to say, you have to be put down. If you eat, we can tell him, you do eat and all you need is a little bit more time to get better. And what do you think about a shrink? There are psychologists, who work with pets. I'm not really a fan of them, but maybe they can help you." She sat on her bed, took Justice in her arms and stroke over his fur. He ate muffin. She had to talk to the vet about this, how bad it was for him. If it wasn't too bad, she'd feed him half a muffin every day, make some without sugar herself for him. Whatever it took to make him eat, keep him alive. 

Monday, April 30th

Step by step Sara worked her way away from the crime scene. She found blood drops and wanted to know, where they were going to. A dead hooker and maybe a trace of the killer, to his car or any other lead, where he went to. From what she saw at the crime scene, the killer could have been disturbed, the scene was messy and looked like he left it in a hurry. Was he disturbed by the witness, who called it in? Police arrived only a few minutes after the call, it took her twenty minutes. The last week had been busy, they had at least two dead bodies every night and probably a serial killer on the loose. This could be another victim of the man, who was suspected to kill five hookers within the last six nights. One per night. Jack the Ripper was back and that was exactly what the newspapers wrote.   
Small blood drops, a small cut? Did he hurt himself while he cut her? The victim had various knife wounds, did she fight back at one point? Or did he slipped? Whatever it was, she had an example of the blood and hoped, the trace took her closer to the killer, offer her a few answers and evidence, to catch him. Jack the Ripper was never caught, she didn't hope it was the same with this man.   
Following the blood drops Sara didn't pay much attention to her surroundings. Her yellow crime scene numbers were long all used, she continued to work anyway. When this trace got her somewhere, she could call somebody to get her more, if it ended in nothing, she could go back and try something else. The chances were high the killer got into his car and was gone, she walked all the way for nothing.   
Out of the blue hands grabbed her and threw her on the ground and heavy weight was on her back. A hand got around her mouth, so she couldn't call out for help.  
"Gotcha bitch, you thought you're smart? You're not smart. Stupid little slut, far away from your safe place, now you're mine." A male voice, her killer? He was strong, no matter how hard Sara tried to free her hands, he hold them with one hand and closed her mouth the other hand. She had to hit him, get free and fight him. He shifted his weight a little bit, more on her upper body, made it harder to breath, her lungs ached. With one fast move he got her gun and held it to her temple before she could do anything.  
"One word and you're dead, got me? Really nice of you to get me a gun, I collect them, you know. Got some other toys with you?" His free hand ran over her body, extra long over her ass and between her legs. "Nice, are you wet already? We'll have some fun. What a pity, there are no cuffs. Lucky for you, I'm prepared." She had no chance to do anything when he cuffed her. "Now, this is better. Now we need some…yes, this is great." He pulled a knife and cut off some of her jacket and forced the fabric into her mouth, the gun still on her head.   
In her mind Sara ran through all self-defensive lessons she had, tried to remember what to do, but she was cuffed, too far away from the crime scene to be found soon and he had a gun. All she had left were her legs, she could try to kick him, make it difficult, fight back.   
"Time to start the fun, I love sluts tied up. Makes me very hard, you'll love my long and hard cock in you. I'll give you the best fuck of your life - and the last one. Can't get any better than be fucked by me, Slut." He tried to open her pants and she kicked him. He tumbled back a few steps, held his crotch and looked at her with anger - and lust. Her fighting back made him only more horny.   
"I love the fighting type, you're rough, means I can be rough too. Gonna be very rough on you, Slut. But you kick me again, I shoot you into the knees, pain for you, just more pain." He cam closer and was about to lower himself on her, when out of the blue a black shadow appeared and kicked him into his side. He flew off her on the ground and stayed there.   
Sara tried to see something, see who was there. Was it a cop? Help? The second person pulled her up without a word. He wore all black, also a black mask. She had no chance to see any feature, the alley had no light, her flashlight was gone and there was no moon.   
Before she could do or see something, her eyes fell on her attacker, who had her gun in his hands and aimed on the secret second person. Sara wanted to call, but she couldn't with the fabric in her mouth, so she did the only thing she could, she jumped at the second person, made him stumble. At the same moment she heard a shot and felt a painful sting in her left arm/shoulder. She caught a bullet! Damn, that hurt. How could people in old western movies just shake it up like nothing and continue their mission? She was on the ground, fell hard and had no idea, which part of her body hurt most.   
With her eyes she searched the alley for the two men. Her attacker was up, the kickback must have made him lost his balance for a second.   
"Gotta shoot you, wanker." He yelled and dropped.   
Sara only heard no sound, why did he drop? And he didn't move anymore. She looked at the second person and a saw a gun? With a silencer? Number two shot her attacker before he could do the same. What would happen now? Was number two on her side or was she just in the hands of another perpetrator? She tried to ran away, but stumbled and fell. The last thing she remembered was more pain, this on her head. Was she shot? Was she dead? And why was everything so black? 

"Sara? Sara? Can you hear me?"  
Yes, she could hear…no need to scream. Just because she slept a little bit, maybe slept in, it wasn't a reason to scream. Carefully she opened her eyes and found a very anxious looking Greg in front of her. What he doing in her…wait a moment, this wasn't her bedroom. Not unless somebody re-decorated it within the last hours.   
"Are you all right?"  
"What…" Gosh, her voice was horrible. "What happened?"  
"You got shot." He took a glass of water and offered it with a straw to her. She was shot? How? Why? Where? Before she could ask all these questions, she had to drink, every word hurt, she needed water.   
"What happened?"  
"I hoped you could tell me. You went away from the crime scene, followed a blood trail. We followed the numbers, but when they ended, you weren't there, we looked for you, when I tried to call you, you answered the call without saying a word. Luckily all our cell phones have GPS, we called the lab, they tracked you down, we found you shot in an alley, next to a dead man. What happened? He had your gun next to him, you were shot and cuffed…"  
Alley, a man, her gun, cuffs, there were pictures in her head, but she couldn't get them in the right order, didn't understand them.   
"I've no idea."  
"You were unconscious, hit your head on a garbage bin when you fell. Did you try to run away?"  
Run away? Yes, yes, she tried to run away from…from the man? "I don't know."  
"Was there somebody else?"  
"I…have no idea…sorry Greg…I…I've got a headache." She closed her eyes. Shot. Cuffed. In a dark alley. A dead body next to her gun. What happened? Did she shoot somebody? Why had she been cuffed? 

The next time she woke up she felt a little bit better. At least her headache was gone. Greg sat next to her bed, watched her, held her hand.   
"Hey." Sara smiled a little bit.   
"Hey, how are you?"  
"I guess better. Did I sleep a lot?"  
"Eight hours."  
"You stayed here the whole time?"  
"Can't let you fight alone, can I? The only time I went away was to feed Justice, who didn't touch his food. Not even the muffin I got him. Looks like he thinks you're gone too and gave up completely. Poor boy. I thought about smuggling him into hospital, but when we get caught, we're in trouble."  
"Do you know what happened to me?"  
"You were shot. The man, who was shot, used your gun and shot you. Which gun did you use to shoot him? And how did you do it? You were cuffed."  
"I didn't shoot anybody, as far as I remember."  
"Who else was there?"  
"I don't know. Was there somebody?" She tried to remember. She followed the blood trail, ran out of numbers, continued and suddenly…she remembered…how she was grabbed by somebody. "I think…he tried to rape me."   
"The dead man?"  
"Yes…he…took my gun, forced me to be quiet. He had cuffs, cut a piece of my jacket off to silence me and…I think I kicked him, that made him only more horny. And angry. He said, I do that again, he shoots me into the knees. Before he could get on me, he…he was thrown away. There had to be somebody else." Who? She tried to get a picture, all she saw was dark. Another dark person.   
"We have nothing on the second person, do you remember anything?"  
"No…yes…I…I saw how the first man, who grabbed me, had my gun and aimed on the second man, who saved me. I couldn't call out, so I jumped at him, made him fall and…there was a lot of pain, it must be when I got shot. How bad is it?"  
"Clean shot, you're a lucky woman, no bones or arteries are injured. We found the bullet and the cartridge, your clothes are in the lab, you're evidence. Unfortunately I wasn't the one, who took them off, one of the nurses did."  
"I almost got raped, Greg, I'm not in the mood for sexual jokes."  
"Sorry." He looked down. That was a foolish comment.   
"It's okay. Who was the man?"  
"We're still working on it, but…it looks like he was the killer of the woman, we found before. You know what that means."  
"He was the serial killer?"  
"We're investigating in this direction."  
"I need to get out of here, there's a lot of work…" She tried to get up and was pushed back by him.   
"You stay where you are. You got shot, Sara, have a concussion and got attacked. Grissom doesn't want you back until you're fine."  
"I'm fine."  
"That's why you have your left arm in a loop. No way, Honey, you stay where you are, get some sleep and let the doctors take care of you."  
"Justice needs me, I can't stay when he refuses to eat."  
"Sorry, your health is more important."  
With angry eyes she looked at him. It was her decision where she was, not his. When she wanted to get out, she would go out. Okay, she was shot, she needed medical treatment, but she got it and had been for at least eight hours plus the time she couldn't remember of. That was more than enough. 

Tuesday, May 1st

An advice was something you could take or not. Sara decided not to take the advice of the doctor and left hospital as soon as she had the chance, which was twelve hours later after breakfast. With a taxi she drove home, her left arm in a loop and some medication for her pain.   
"Justice? Where are you?" To her surprise the cat came out of her bedroom to greet her. "There you are, you come here to greet me. Did you miss me? I missed you too." She took Justice in her arms and pulled him closer. "Greg told me you didn't eat, I thought we had an agreement? You eat, I bake muffins for you. Want one? Come on, there should be one left in the fridge." With the cat on her arms she went into her kitchen, opened the fridge and got a muffin out. As soon as she offered Justice a crumb, he ate it. Relieved she sat down on the floor and continued feeding the cat until the muffin was gone.   
"You're such a good boy, can you eat some more? Want some cat food? Lets have a look, which kind do you like most?" She pulled a can out of the cabinet. "Chicken. Lets try chicken." She opened the can and offered him something. Justice turned his head away. "Oh come, please. Eat a little bit, for our celebration. We're back together and believe me, I didn't want to leave you alone, scare you. See the loop? I was shot and they took me into hospital." She stroke softly over his fur. "I worried about you, please, eat a little bit more. I fought to get back to you, good you fight for me, please? We're in this together, we're a family." She offered him the cat food again. Slowly he took it. "Thanks. You know, I do understand the feeling of giving up, when it seems to be easier to stop everything, but the thing is, when you die, you haven't helped anybody, only hurt the people, who love you." Another piece, one by one she made him eat a dozen pieces before he finally stopped.   
"Better than nothing. Now it's time for me to get some food, I tell you, hospital food is a nightmare. And when I manage to stay without painkillers I can have a beer tonight. After all what happened, I need a beer. Or two."  
She looked into her fridge and found a few yogurts. Better than nothing. With her yogurt she went into bed and a minute later Justice was by her side, back on the shirt.   
"I missed my bed and you next to me. Greg will come over soon, won't be happy I left hospital instead of staying another night or two. But he said you refused to eat, I had to come back." She stroke softly over his head. They were a family now, she had to take care of him, no matter what. 

"Why was I not surprised when I found your hospital room empty?" Greg shook his head when he came into Sara's bedroom. "You weren't supposed to leave."  
"Justice needed me, he has to eat and when I came back, he greeted me, was happy to see me. I made him eat a muffin and some of his cat food. He can't be two or three days without food, he's too skinny for that. Every day counts."  
"What about your own health?"  
"Greg, I was in bed, the whole time. We even ordered some food, should be here any minute. Plain chicken for my tiger, pizza for us. I knew you'd come around."  
"Will you stay in bed?"  
"Promise."  
"Good. And your baby eats." Greg sat down on Sara's bed.   
"A little bit."  
"And your head?"  
"Better. Tell me about the cases. Was he the serial killer?"  
"Yes. What we also know is, there was a second or a third person around. You were shot with your own gun, but Ewing, the serial killer, was shot by a gun, that is unknown. We searched the whole area, no other gun. Can you remember more?"  
"I remember another person, yes, but…like I told you, the one, who I jumped at when Ewing had the gun. Can't tell you more about him, he wore black, didn't say a word, he helped me get out to run away, but well, I had to safe him after he saved me."  
"Describe him."  
"He was small…not even my height, slim build, that's it. I didn't see any hair, nothing of the face. Black…clothes, can't even tell you if he wore jeans or anything else. He saved me."  
"Yeah, he saved you and left. Why? it was self-defense, he has nothing to worry because of his shot, you're his witness. Where came he from? Why did he carry a gun?"  
"Maybe his intentions weren't that good. But why did he help me?"  
"I don't know, we try to find him, so far we haven't got anything of him."  
"At least the serial killer is stopped." The doorbell rang. "Could you…?"  
"I get it, yes. Stay in bed." He got up and left the room.   
"He's a nice guy, isn't he? Why did you not eat when he tried to feed you?" She ruffled his fur. Whenever she looked into his eyes, she saw sorrow. Only when she came home today, there was something like happiness. Or relief.   
"Two pizza and plain chicken. Lets see if he gets it himself." He put the chicken in front of Justice and waited, what the cat did. All cats he knew would jump at the chance right away, the red cat on Sara's bed stayed on the shirt and didn't pay any attention to the chicken.   
"Maybe later. Get the chicken whenever you feel like it, Justice, okay?"  
"The good thing is, you've got some time on your hands, can make him eat again."  
"I want to get back to work ASAP."  
"With your shoulder you stay home at least a week. You come back to the lab sooner, your boss will tell you where to go. Grissom made himself clear last night and he won't be happy about the fact you left hospital."  
"Not my problem, it's my decision where I am and a hospital will never be my first choice."  
"It's his decision if you work or not. You're even."  
"You're on his side."  
"Definitely. You never look after yourself."  
"I'm capable of looking after myself, I know my limits." Sara grumbled and had a bug bite of her pizza. Real food. Better than what they had in hospital and yogurts. Her favorite pizza delivery service ruled the world.   
"I won't argue with you, I'm way too happy you're all right. And I want to get back to the case. When you jumped at the unknown man, how did you make contact?"  
"With my right shoulder."  
"Did he say something."  
"I don't know, everything happened so fast. He stumbled, I got hit and the next thing I know is how Ewing dropped and was dead."  
"Clear shot, bullet to the head. Our mysterious man knows how to fire a gun, maybe he was in the army, I doubt he only shoots on cans on the weekend."  
"He carried a loaded a gun around the city in the middle of the night. I wonder if he was on his way to somewhere or came from somewhere. Are there any assaults in this area that night? With same the caliber?"  
"So far the bullet we found wasn't in the system and no other like this one popped up. It was the first time he used his gun, or the first time we know about it."  
"What if our serial killer was killed by another killer?"  
"A killer with a conscious?"  
"Maybe. Some of them have principles. And if he ever gets caught, the fact he saved a CSI will play into his hands. Without him, I don't want to think what had happened. By the time you were there, I would have been dead."  
"True."  
"Want some cheese?" She held some of her cheese in front of Justice, who turned his head away.   
"No cheese, no chicken. What you ate so far isn't enough for the day. Come on, give it a try. Please." No reaction.   
"What did the vet say the last time?"  
"Two more weeks and when he hasn't started to eat like he's supposed to, he wants to put him down."  
"Shit. Heard that, buddy, you have to eat."  
"I won't take him there anymore. Under no circumstance I let him kill Justice."  
"Do you think he'll survive without vet?"  
"I hope. All we need is a reason for him to stay alive."  
"With you back he might want to live. At least, he ate a little bit."  
"Not enough."   
"His owner isn't smart when it comes to her health, why should he?" Greg chuckled.   
"Funny. Justice and me will find a way, something for us to keep going." She took the cat in her arms and kissed his head. Somehow she and Justice would find a way to make their lives work. 

Wednesday, May 2nd

It was new to Sara to sleep at night, the last night she slept poorly, woke up often and dreamed of the night of her attack. At one point she took her gun next to her bed, only to feel a little bit safer. At one point she thought she heard Justice meow and a voice. Her dreams were weird. And she heard Justice again. Slowly she opened her eyes to see, if the cat was still next to her asleep. The shirt was empty and her hand didn't feel any fur. Justice was gone. She opened her eyes completely and her breath stopped. There was somebody in her room! Her hand went to her gun, eyes on the person in her room. Who was it and what was this person doing here? A burglar. Or…was it possible that somebody planned to rape her? Twice within a week, Sara had to focus on her breath to stay calm. When the gun was firm in her right hand, she aimed on the person.   
"One move and I shoot." She released the safety catch and sensed how the person wanted to turn and run. The shot she fired into the wall made him stop.  
"The next time I won't miss! Stay where you are or you get a bullet into your head. I'm pretty good at aiming. If you want to live, you won't move an inch." Did this guy have Justice in his arms? If he hurt the cat, Sara would shoot him. No mercy. She switched on the light next to her bed, which was very painful as she had to use her left hand.   
"Put the cat down. Slowly. One wrong move and you're dead." She watched the person putting Justice down. To her surprise the cat stayed by his side.   
"Put off your mask." He wore a black skiing mask, made it impossible for her to see his face. When he didn't react she repeated her words. "Put the mask off or I will shoot you. Start with your knees and if you still don't do as you're told, I will continue with the next one. Put your mask off!" She aimed on the knee.   
Slowly he lifted his arm, grabbed the mask and pulled it off, looking straight into Sara's eyes. The brunette stopped breathing. This couldn't be real, it had to be a dream. She had to be dreaming, everything else made no sense.   
"Could you turn your gun down? Please."  
"This can't be true."  
"Sara, please that gun away."  
"I must be asleep, this has to be a dream."  
"It is. Put the gun aside. You're dreaming. Put the gun away."  
"If I'm dreaming, this isn't real and nothing will happen when I shoot."  
"Please."  
Sara kept her gun steady, aimed on the head. "Nothing will happen if it's dream."  
"Please, don't."  
"Explain this dream to me."  
"I can't…please, don't shoot, put the gun down."   
"What kind of dream are you?"  
"A weird one. Sara, put the gun away."  
"No."  
"Please. Tell me what to do so you don't aim at my head anymore."  
"Come here, sit down. Slowly." Sara petted on the space on the bed next to her. If this wasn't a dream…she had not idea what then was happening. She watched every move, kept her gun aimed.   
"Please, please put the gun…at least away from my head."  
"I want explanations."  
"I can't give you any."   
"Not good enough." She watched Justice jump on the lap of the other person, rubbing his head on the belly. She had never seen the cat this happy. If this was a dream, she dreamed a happy end for the cat.   
"Okay, okay, this is not a dream, this is real, when you shoot, you really kill me."  
"I didn't know you can shoot a dead person, Sofia." The brunette said dryly. Was this really Sofia? Was this real? It couldn't be real, the blonde died. She saw how she was shot, fell down the edge. It had to be a dream.   
"I'm not dead…as you can see. What's Justice doing here?" The blonde picked up her cat, hold it, hugged it.   
"He stopped eating, your parents had no idea what to do with him, they took him to the vet, he wants to put him down…why are you alive, Sofia?"  
"Could you put your gun away? Please? I'm not a threat to you, you know me."  
"I know the detective, I saw how she was shot and fell down the edge, died. How can I know you, when you're dead?"  
"Please." Sofia put her hand close to the brunette. "The gun? You don't want to shoot me, not even in your dreams."  
Slowly Sara put the gun down.   
"Thanks."  
"I still want explanations and when you try to run away, I've the gun back in my hands and will stop you."  
"You'd shoot me?"  
"Not shoot, stop you."  
"Is the same when you use your gun."  
"Depends. You're a burglar. I can shoot you. How did you get in?"  
"I used the door. Your security system is good, but I'm better."  
"What are you doing here? Why did you come here?"  
"I wanted to see how you are. If you are all right. Your shoulder doesn't look good."  
"How do you know I'm…wait! Were it you, who saved me? You're about the height of the person, who saved me."  
"Sara…"  
"I don't want lies, Sofia. Was it you?"  
The blonde nodded. "Yes."  
"What were you doing there?"  
"Saved you."  
"But how…"  
"Please, I can't give you any answers."  
"Why?"  
"I just can't."  
"Explain to me what happened."  
"I can't."  
"Why?"  
"Because…I just can't. What happened to Justice? Why did he stop eating?"  
"He misses you. Your parents couldn't make him eat, when I was over because….of a case…I managed to make him eat a little bit. Justice had to stay in your old room because of your father's allergy, here he can walk around. Which he barely does, he sleeps the whole day on your shirt, the only thing I can make him eat are sugar free muffins, cat food is a fight. When I was in hospital he stopped eating, a reason why I came back ASAP. He needs to eat, otherwise I've no idea how long he'll stay alive."  
"Why don't you eat, my Darling?" Sofia looked at her cat. "You have to eat, you look horrible. So skinny."  
"Maybe you should feed him."  
"Where's his food?"   
"In the kitchen…do you plan to escape?"  
"Best chance, isn't it? But my baby needs food. Fridge?"  
"Yes."  
"Okay, come on Justice, we get you some food and feed you here. Otherwise Sara will get her gun and shoot me." The blonde smiled.   
"You've got thirty seconds and Justice stays here."   
"Do you really believe my cat will stay here?"  
"No." Sara smiled. "Your time is running."  
"Come on, Justice, time to fix you some dinner." Sofia got up ad left the room, Justice by her side, not willing to leave her.   
Sofia was back, she was alive. This wasn't a dream. How was this possible? She saw Sofia dying, how could she be here with her? In her condo? 

Still amazed she starred at the blonde, when she came back with the cat by her side and a bowl in her hands.   
"Now it's time for you to eat, Justice. Please. Do me the favor and eat, will you?" She put the bowl on the floor and sat on Sara's bed, Justice right back on her lap. "Honey, you're supposed to eat. Shall I take the bowl on my lap so you can be with me and eat?" She took the bowl on her lap and sat in front of the cat. Now Justice started eating. "See, not that difficult. Eat, you have to eat a lot."  
"That's what I try all the time. Without success."  
"Do I have to feed you?"  
"If you want your cat alive, it looks like it."  
"Listen Justice, you have to eat when Sara feeds you. It's important, you hear me? Please, eat when she gives you something."  
"Or you feed him."  
Sofia sighed. "I can't."  
"Why?"  
"Because…there are many reasons…"  
"Sofia, he will stop eating as soon as you're gone."  
"I can't stay…even when you use your gun. I can't stay and…I'd be very grateful if you could not tell anybody…"  
"What happened? Sofia, I want answers."  
"I can't give you any."  
"Why?"  
"I can't. Sorry."  
"You saved my life, you break into my condo and don't give me an explanation?"  
"Yes."  
"Forgot who has the gun."  
"Sara." Sofia smiled. "You won't hurt me. Take good care of my kitten, will you?"  
"He isn't a kitten and you won't leave."  
"Yes I will."  
"No." Sara grabbed the hand of the blonde and stopped her from getting up. "Don't go."  
"You have a lot of questions, I can't give you answers. Make sure Justice is fine."   
"But…"  
"No, I've to go."  
"Don't. Please. Stay a little bit longer with us."  
"Like until you're asleep? Watch you, make sure you fall asleep?"  
"I don't want you to leave. Sofia, your parents…"  
"Don't! Please. It's hard enough."  
"But why…"  
"I really can't give you answers, Sara." Sofia leant back, stroke over Justice's back. "Turn off the lights."  
"Why?"  
"Otherwise you won't fall asleep."  
"I don't want to fall asleep, wake up and you're gone."  
"I'll be gone anyway."  
"Sofia…"  
"No, there is no other way. You can watch me leave or I stay until you're asleep. Did you take your medication?"  
"I don't need a babysitter."  
"No, of course not. Lay down, close your eyes. Our tiger is done, he ate everything, nothing is left in his bowl. Justice, lay down next to Sara, the two of you need some sleep."  
"I don't want you to leave. Will you come back?"  
"Sara…don't make me promise things I can't keep. Lay down and relax."  
The brunette sighed and lay down. There was nothing she could do to make Sofia stay. The blonde was right, there was no way she'd shoot her and there were no chances to make her stay.   
Sofia watched how Sara's hand found Justice fur and stroke it softly. Her cat was in the best hands, she could have wished for. Before she came to Sara, she had been to her own apartment, looked for Justice and when she couldn't find him, she was sure, he was with her parents. That he refused to eat and put his life at risk, was not what she expected. It changed plans, she had to make sure, he was okay, would eat. How she could do this, was so far a mystery to her.   
And Sara. When she decided to come here, all she wanted was a quick look at the brunette, check that she was okay and leave. The whole thing wasn't supposed to take longer than a minute. Go inside, check on Sara and leave. But then Justice saw her, knew it was her, even when she wore a mask. She had to take him in her arms, had to hold him tight, spend some time with him. She missed him. Her little baby tiger. To see him here was a surprise, but Sara seemed to try everything, to make Justice feel good.   
What did this all mean for Sofia? She couldn't stay, couldn't come back here every night and make sure, they were both all right. Officially she was dead and it had to stay like this. When Sara didn't keep her promise, there was nobody, who'd believe her. They all were sure Sofia was dead, when somebody said different, this person was wrong.   
Seeing Sara and Justice together made her happy and sad. She knew both were happy to see her, Justice started to eat again and Sara…of course the brunette had many questions. Sofia couldn't give her any answers, she just couldn't.   
Softly she stroke over Justice's fur. Her cat purred, happy to have her back. When she left now, she'd break his heart. He stopped eating, didn't want to live without her anymore. Was it better to take him with her? But she couldn't. He had to stay with Sara, she took good care of him, did everything for him.   
Sara. Sofia smiled at the brunette, who was asleep. The blonde was sure the brunette refused to take all her medications, little stubborn mind. So cute when she lay there and slept, her hand on Justice, making sure, they had physical contact. Carefully Sofia bent over and kissed Sara softly on her lips. "Sleep tight, Sara. I'll be back, I promise. Just can't promise you when. Make sure you and Justice are all right. I'm glad you're together." She kissed her cat. "Stay with her, don't make her worry. She loves you. I'll be back." She got up and was glad Justice stay with Sara when she quietly left the room. Time for her to leave.

When Sara woke up and stopped breathing for a second. She had the weirdest dream ever! In her dream Sofia was in her bedroom, the blonde was alive, they talked and…it was all so weird. But nice. Sofia was alive, she came here to check on her, she was the one, who saved her in the alley and…it was a dream, wasn't it? She looked at Justice, who was next to her, watched her.   
"Justice, I had a nice but very weird dream, I dreamed Sofia was alive and here. She fed you, you finally ate again and…why is your bowl in my bed?" In her dream Sofia fed the cat here, the bowl on her lap, sitting on Sara's bed. Now the bowl, that was in the kitchen last night an Sara was sure about this, she cleaned it before she went to bed and left some dry food in it, knowing Justice wouldn't touch it. No food but the bowl on her bed. The cat couldn't carry the bowl, that was for sure. How did it get here? Did she carry it?   
"It was a dream, wasn't it?" Her eyes searched her bed and she found her gun at the same place, where she left it last night. In her dream, she aimed her gun at Sofia, not knowing it was the blonde. When the gun was where she left it last night, it meant it was a dream. Right? Or did she put the gun away when Sofia went into the kitchen to feed Justice?  
"I want answers, in my dream I didn't get any. When I can find trace of a break in, it wasn't a dream and I…I've to think about al of this. Sofia doesn't have a key, means when she came into my apartment, there must be evidence left. I'm a CSI, I know how to read evidence. Want to join me?" She got out of bed, Justice stayed where he was. "Okay, I do it myself." She put on some sweat pants and went to her front door. Open it and kneeing in front of it, she took a closer look at it. There were some scratches, they could be from her key or from a tool to open her door. What did Sofia in her dream say? Sara's security system was good, but she was better.  
"Maybe it wasn't a dream…but…no…I saw how Sofia got shot and fell. It had to be a dream. Everything else is crazy. The medication must make me dream weird stuff, probably I'll dream next night I'm a queen in an African country." Nevertheless, she'd have a look for a better security system and buy a chain and bolt for her door. Better safe than sorry. And in case it wasn't a dream, Sofia had to ring her doorbell, like all other guests did - alive guests.   
Sofia alive. It couldn't be. If the blonde survived, she had told them. Everybody thought she was dead, why should let them believe this? Let them suffer. Especially her parents. The blonde wouldn't do that.   
It was a dream, a weird dream. But it felt good. To have Sofia back. When the blonde was alive all the problems with Justice were over and a lot of people were very, very happy. Sara was one of them. She missed Sofia, more than she thought, more than she wanted to admit to herself. Having the blonde here…it felt good. Even when it was only a dream. Sofia alive. A crazy dream. 

"You look cute when you're asleep." Greg smiled when he came into Sara's living room and found her asleep on the couch. Justice on top, snuggling close up to her.   
"I hope you mean Justice."  
"Actually both of you. I brought you dinner. Did Justice eat?"  
"A little bit." She managed to make him eat for breakfast, but he didn't eat more than half a bowl. And with every hour he became more and more apathetically. It was like he thought everything was fine when Sofia left, like she did before when she went to work and when she didn't come back for breakfast, he realized she was gone again.   
"How is your shoulder?"  
"Better. I come back to work soon."  
"Like in a week or so?"  
"Sooner."  
"Grissom won't give you cases, he wants you to check with your doctor and have a long rest."  
"What did you tell him?"  
"The truth."  
"Why? You don't tell the truth to your boss."  
"When it helps your friend to get well, you do." Greg sat down and opened some boxes. "Thai. Is that fine with you? I got some fish for Justice. If he doesn't like it, I have for dinner tomorrow."  
"Will you come around every day?"  
"Sure, somebody has to look after you. Plus you like having me here."  
"Not if you tell Grissom I can't work."  
"Lift your left arm over your head." He leant back and smiled.   
"I can work without lifting my arm over my head. We collect evidence and don't pick apples."  
"You're not fit enough to work, all you can do - next week - is in the lab. You're not happy when you're caged in the lab."  
"No, not really." Sara offered Justice some fish, he didn't eat. "Do you like pasta?" She tried it and got the same result. Her, no, Sofia's cat, refused to eat again.   
"Vet?"  
"No, not the vet."  
"If he doesn't eat…"  
He ate. Last night. When Sofia was here. Sara was sure it wasn't a dream, she count the cat food, one can was missing. She bought twelve cans, used four of them and seven were left. One empty can was in the garbage can, one can she didn't put in there. It wasn't a dream, Sofia was alive. But when she told this Greg, he would tell her, she should see her doctor again. Something was wrong with her head.   
"I'll work something out." Somehow. She had to get Sofia back, make her come here and feed Justice.   
"What?"  
"Not sure, but he won't die and I will never let anybody put him down. Never."  
"To me it looks like you need a miracle to make him eat again. The way he should eat."  
"Sometimes miracles happen." Last night one happened. "When I was saved in the alley, it was a miracle somebody was there too and this somebody had good intentions. At least for me. Don't you think it was a kind of miracle?"  
"It was, you were very lucky and we're still looking for this person. There's nothing that helps us to him find. We did find some fibers, of a black cotton jumper, but there were no skin particles on it, I doubt it will help."  
I could give you the name of the person, but you won't believe me. Hell, she could barely believe it herself, needed evidence to understand and believe. It was all so impossible, so crazy. Sofia was alive and she saved Sara's life. Killed the man, a serial killer. How did the blonde knew about him? Was it a coincidence? Did she follow Sara around? Why? Because Sara left the scene? Why was she at the same scene Sara was? Why not with Nick, Cath or Warrick? So many questions and she had no answers.   
"Sara?" Greg's voice got her back out of her thoughts.   
"Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts."  
"I saw that. Nice thoughts?"  
"Strange ones…do you believe in avenging angels?"  
"I don't believe in angels at all. The modern version of avenging angels are bounty hunters and I doubt it was a bounty hunter, who killed the serial killer. Bounty hunter get their suspects to court to get their money, or stick around when they shoot somebody. Some men are worth the money even they're dead."  
"You call me when you find out anything about the guy, who saved me?"  
"Sure. I keep you updated, but you have to stay away until your shoulder is better. Don't you enjoy some time at home? Time to relax and…don't you have hobbies?"  
"My newest hobby is also my biggest problem." Sara petted Justice.   
"Get a second one, Justice isn't very active."  
"He's a challenge and I like challenges."  
"Me too, that's why I'm your friend. You're a big challenge." He grinned.   
"All you want is get into my pants, Greggo."  
"Not anymore, these times are over, you had your chance, didn't take it. Now I don't want you anymore. Sorry to disappoint you, Sara."   
"Glad to hear so. We wouldn't be a good couple, but we're great friends." She took his hand. The friendship to Greg was very important and she was glad, he didn't want more than friendship from her. 

Friday, May 4th

Last night Sara woke up a couple of times because she thought, she heard somebody in her apartment. Her hand was on the gun and she listened for a while carefully, but nothing happened. Also Justice didn't move from her bed, which told her, Sofia couldn't be around. He'd greet her, knew it was Sofia before Sara would. All her listening into the darkness, waiting for the blonde to come in, was for nothing. She even didn't lock her door, only closed it, so it was easier for Sofia to get in. However she got in two nights ago.   
Justice had barely eaten today, only half a muffin and very little of his food, Sara tried everything, talked to him, made him some chicken, offered cheese, no matter with what she came up, the cat refused to eat. She had no idea what to do next. There had to be a solution, all she needed to do was find it. But where? And when? Better soon.   
How could she reach Sofia? It was unlikely the blonde owned her old cell phone or looked into her old email account. There had to be another way. Leave a message? Where? Walk through the city and hope, Sofia appeared? Highly unlikely. It had been a miracle the blonde found her once, walking through the city at night and hope, she'd join her, was crazy. Way too crazy to try.   
And what was when she was wrong and it was all a dream? When her mind got crazy, played her and Sofia hadn't been here. There was no solid evidence and without solid evidence, you had no proof something happened. Like there was no solid evidence about Sofia's death. They all saw how she got shot, how she fell down the edge, but they never found a body. What if the blonde wasn't dead, was alive and well and only didn't tell anybody because…yes, because of what? There was no reason, that made sense for the blonde to hide. She wasn't a criminal, she was a cop. She had family and friends, who missed her.   
Suddenly a black person appeared in front of her bed. Immediately Sara had the gun in her hands.   
"Wow, slow down, it's me."   
Justice was gone, meowed and he sounded happy.   
"Can't you make some noise so I know you're here? I almost shot you." Sara complained, too happy to mean it.   
"Why do you have your gun next to your bed?"  
"In case somebody breaks into my apartment."  
"Which is very easy, you didn't lock your door."  
"I hoped you'd come back and I wanted to make it easy for you." She switched on the light. Sofia had Justice in her arms and the cat licked her face.   
"Thanks, I can cope. How are you doing?"  
"You should feed your cat, he refused to eat again."  
"Did he? Justice, you have to eat? I thought I told you that. Come on, we get you some food." The blonde left the room.   
Sara sat up, unsure if she should follow them or stay. One thing was clear, she wasn't asleep and Sofia was real. No mask today and Sara saw her alarm clock, read the time, felt the pain in her arm when she moved it over her head. This was real and so was Sofia.   
"You have a lot of food for him." Sofia came back, a full bowl in her hands, Justice next to her, hungrily looking at the food. As soon as she put it down, he started eating like he never made any problems.   
"I do and when he starts to eat it every day like an ordinary cat, I'd be very happy. Come here, sit down."  
"It's so much nicer when you ask me without pointing a gun at my head." The blonde grinned and sat on Sara's bed. "How is your shoulder?"  
"Hurts still, but it could have been worse. How did you know where I was? Did you follow me from the scene?"  
"No."  
"Not?"  
"No, I didn't. Sara, I still can't give you answers, nothing has changed. Sorry."  
"Why did you come here if you don't want to give me answers?"  
"Because I wanted to see if Justice eats, which he doesn't and it worries me, and I wanted to see how you are."  
"If you want Justice to eat, you have to take him with you. Wherever you live now, he won't stop starving until he's back with you. I could made him eat the first morning, from noon on he refused to eat, like he understood, you weren't at work, won't come back like you used to do. He needs you. If you really care about him, you take him with you or come here every day and make him think, everything is fine."  
"I can't take him with me-"  
"And you can't tell me why."  
"No. He's better off here with you."  
"Unfortunately he doesn't think the same and I doubt it will change. You choose. Come and feed your cat, take him with you or let him die. His organs can't function forever like this. He needs to eat like an ordinary cat, otherwise he'll die. Choose, Sofia."  
"I don't want him to die…"  
"Then you better make sure he eats. Listen, if you don't want to tell me what happened, why you pretend to be dead and walk around the city during the night, all right, I can live with that, but don't let him die. Take care of him or end his suffering. One word and I take him to the vet tomorrow, he wants to put Justice down anyway. When I tell him to do it, it's over by tomorrow afternoon." Sara said in a matter of fact voice.   
"No! You can't let him kill Justice!" Sofia almost yelled.   
"Then tell me how you make sure he eats every day. The amount of food he needs."  
"I can't come here every night, it's too dangerous."  
"Too dangerous? Why?"  
"It's a risk I can't take."  
"Why is it a risk? I give you a key, for Christ's sake. You can come in without triggering the alarm system or break in. Feed him, talk a few minutes to him, whatever. Or are you afraid I tell somebody and when you come here, my apartment will be full with cops and other people?`"  
"It's a possibility."  
"Wow, thanks for the trust."  
"Sara…"  
"No, if you don't trust me, Sofia, you better take Justice and go. Because I will take him to the vet tomorrow, no matter how painful this is for me, but I can't let him suffer any longer." Sara knew, she'd never been capable of taking Justice to the vet, she had to call somebody to do this, but she was aware of the fact, that the cat couldn't live much longer the way it did. Sooner or later one of the organs would fail. Why let him suffer than necessary?   
"You're blackmailing me."  
"No, I want you to make a decision, what's important to you. He's your cat, it's your decision if he lives or dies."  
Sofia got up, started pacing around, her eyes on Justice all the time. "I just can't come here every night, I've no idea for how long I'll be in Vegas. And I can't take him with me."  
"Leaves the vet."  
"No…there must be another way…look at him, he eats."  
"Because you're here."  
"I can't…" She looked at her cat. Justice finished his bowl, jumped on the bed, sat on Sofia's shirt and started cleaning himself up. All in all he looked very happy with himself. "Why don't you eat when Sara feeds you, Honey? It's important, you have to eat and I…I don't want the vet to put you down. If you would only eat when she feeds you things were much easier. I know you love me, but your life isn't over just because I'm not around."  
"He thinks different, it's called love, Sofia."  
The blonde sat back on the bed, took Justice on her lap. "You really won't tell anybody about me coming here?"  
"I won't tell anybody about you being alive."   
Sofia thought about it. It was a risk, a big risk, but she couldn't give up on Justice. She had to try everything to make him stay alive. "Okay, I try to come here every night. At least as long as I'm in Vegas. After that…I might take him with me."  
"Good." There were so many questions on Sara's mind, but she'd keep her promise and not ask them. "Are you hungry too? Or thirsty?"  
"No, I'm fine, thanks."  
"How long have you been here Wednesday night?"  
"Not long, you fell asleep pretty fast, I tucked you in and left. You're cute when you sleep."  
"That's what Greg told me too."  
"Is he…"  
"No, he isn't. He has a key because he makes sure I'm fine, but that's it. After you got into my apartment like it's no problem at all, I'll get a security bolt, I give you the key for it, but it means, besides you and me nobody will get into my apartment. I use the bolt when I'm at work. You can come and go as you please, just make sure Justice eats."  
"No problem when I'm around."  
"I saw that." The brunette stopped and looked at Sofia, not sure if she should ask the question, she had on her mind. It had to do with Sofia, with what happened to her, but didn't need big explanations.   
"Rock spur." Sofia said, when she saw Sara's eyes and read her mind. "While I fell."  
"Looks painful."  
"It was, now it's only ugly."  
"Nothing can make you ugly." The brunette took the hand of the blonde and pulled her closer, so she could let her index finger ran over the long scar on Sofia's face. It went from the right temple to the right chin, almost straight.   
"Never saw a Miss Universe with a scar."  
"Never saw a Miss Universe with so much courage like you have."  
"I'm not sure if I'm brave or stupid."  
"Never saw you stupid, you must be brave."  
"Hopefully."  
"Take my word for it." Sara pulled Sofia in her arms. "Whatever happened, I'm glad you're alive. I took me a while to understand it's not a dream, I looked for evidence, checked my lock if there was trace of you, couldn't find any hard evidence and doubted if you were really here and not a dream."  
"And now?"  
"Now I'm sure you're real and I'm not asleep."  
"You should go back to sleep."  
"And you?"  
"I'll stay until you're asleep and then I go."  
"Don't forget to take your key. It's in the box in the hallway, the one with the red ring."  
"Okay. I can't promise I'll be back tomorrow night, but I try."  
"Whatever you do, stay safe. The lab is looking for you…or for the man, who saved me. They don't have any evidence, that tells them who was the mystic man."  
"Good."  
"A former CSI knows how to leave no evidence. And even when they find something, I'm dead."  
"Yeah…we found a hair of you on a dead body of a…did you…?"  
"Sara."   
"I know, you can't give me answers, but…it's we found a hair of you on a dead man, the man who paid the man, who shot you. I don't believe in coincidence."  
"You're free to believe whatever you want."  
"If you were in my shoes, would you believe in coincidence? It's my case, it's not closed and…the look you give me tells me, you won't answer my questions, but it starts to make sense. You killed him, revenge. But why did you place your hair on his body?"  
"I'll leave now, you should get some sleep." Sofia got up.   
"Wait." Sara pulled her back in her arms. "Make sure you come back tomorrow. Please. And let me know when you need anything, okay?"  
"I need you to get well soon."  
"Working on it."  
"Good. Sleep tight." The blonde kissed the brunette shortly on her lips like she did the last time when Sara was asleep. "I see you."  
"See you soon." Sara watched Sofia leave the room, her hand on Justice's back. When she heard how the blonde got the key out of the box, she switched off the light. Hopefully Sofia was back tomorrow night. Whatever she wanted to do now, what she did since she was…since she was dead officially, Sara had no idea. But one thing was sure. Sofia did not only kill the man, who attacked Sara to save the brunette and herself, she also killed Mundez. Was it revenge? Was Sofia a avenging angel? Did she kill more than these two men? Did the blonde change to the other side of the law? 

Greg was less than five minutes gone when her front door was opened again. First Sara thought, her friend had forgotten something and came back. When she saw Sofia in her living room, she was surprised. The blonde didn't come here in the middle of the night, it was almost ten in the evening.   
"Hey."  
"Hi. I used your new bolt to lock the door. Good material. Hey Justice." She picked up her cat. "How are you? Did you eat?"  
"Breakfast, then he stopped."  
"Oh, you have to eat the whole day, my dear. Come on, we get you some dinner. You have to put on some weight, shall I get you a steak the next time?"  
"Actually, I have steak in the freezer, tried to feed him with it, didn't work out. You can try it again."  
"The next time, today you get cat food. From what I heard you ate a lot of food, that's not exactly perfect for you. Muffins, mhm? We both love them but they're not good. I know they remind you of me, but so should your favorite food." Sofia came back with the bowl and like the last night, Justice started to eat right away.   
"Are you hungry too? Want some pizza?"  
"Isn't it a little bit late for you to eat?"  
"I'm a nightshift person and I have to get used to be awake at night again. My plan is to get back to work next week."  
"Isn't that a little bit too soon? With your shoulder?"  
"Now you sound like Greg."  
"We both worry about you."  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I have a look for our pizza, got you a salami with onions and mushrooms. Want something to drink? Beer?"  
"Water, thanks."  
"Water? Does your new life not include beer anymore?"  
"It never included beer when I have to drive."  
"You can stay here, Greg won't be back before tomorrow evening." Sara left the living room and went into the kitchen. No beer. Sofia could stay, where did she sleep anyway? Where did she live? Not in her apartment, that was for sure. Nobody lived there, the place was too spotless.  
"Beer." Sara put the bottle in front of Sofia.   
"Are you still taking medicine?"  
"No."  
"What about…"  
"I don't take anything."  
"Little nightmare." Sofia smiled. "Come here."  
"Why?"  
"You've got the bottle opener." The blonde laughed and pulled Sara next to her. "Does my kitten still sleep on my shirt?"  
"All the time, he likes it."  
"Do you like my ring?" Sofia pulled the ring out of Sara's shirt.   
"Uhm." The brunette blushed. "Your mother wanted me to take it. You can have it back."  
"No, it's in good hands. How are my parents?"  
"They miss you, suffer like Justice. Can't you tell them you're all right?"  
"No."  
"They love you."  
"And I love them but…I don't have a choice. It was wrong enough to come here, let you see me. But I had to check on you, had to know, you're all right. I didn't know you sleep with a gun in your hands."  
"You never know who comes into your bedroom without an invitation. And I'm glad I could make you stop - and come back."  
"Believe me, it makes things a lot of more difficult."   
"Why?"  
"Because Sofia died for everybody and now somebody knows, she didn't."  
"True…even after we found your hair on the body, we all looked for a way how it ended up there, looked for somebody, who wants to frame you. Nobody ever thought about it's you, you're still alive. You can go around and kill people, as long as nobody sees you doing it, gets you on video, nobody will look for you. Very handy."  
"Are you suggesting anything, Sara? Or saying I do that? Walk around the city and kill people?"  
"Mundez, the guy, who attacked me, remember the guy, who launders money for two mob families? Tyler, he died too. Strange, isn't it? Suddenly these guys, we tried for years to get into jail, they get killed."  
"Justice has its ways."  
"I'm sure it has. And justice has its people, who help justice to bring justice to the world."  
"They're called judges, cops, crime scene investigators."  
"Some of them, yes." Sara smiled.   
"Are you sure, you're not accusing me of anything?" There was some anger in Sofia's voice.   
"Very sure." Sara squeezed the hand of the blonde. "Just talking with you. And now we change the topic. Do you want chocolate or potato chips as dessert?"  
"Chocolate, you should know this, Sara." Sofia smiled.   
"Just wanted to make sure, the new you likes some of the things, your old you liked."  
"Why don't you stay on the couch, tell me where everything is and I take care of the food? You need to rest."  
"I'm fine."  
"Stay here, I go. Where's the chocolate?"  
"Kitchen, left side, up. I pulled the blinds down, nobody can look into the kitchen, nobody can see you."  
"Thanks."  
"We keep your risks as low as possible. And Sofia?"  
"Yes?"  
"Get us a new beer, you stay."  
"Do I? Says who?"  
"Say I and I can blackmail you, I've got in my hands." Sara made a fist and looked inside. "Be nice or tighten my fist instead of giving you some chocolate in there."  
"You blackmail me and I'll never come back. You have no evidence."  
"Various fingerprints and maybe a…no, you're right, I've no evidence, there isn't a camera and I won't blackmail you. Sorry, that was stupid to say. Can you stay? Please."  
"No, I can't. Not today. Sorry. Means, no more beer for me, I'll leave before dawn."  
"Another day?"  
"Maybe. Remember? No promises I can't keep."  
"Okay." Not exactly what she hoped for, but Sofia was honest. It was better to hear a truth you didn't like than a sweet little lie. 

Sunday, May 6th

Last night Sara and Justice waited for Sofia, who never appeared. Worried, the brunette spent the night with pacing around, checking her door every five minutes and her cell phone. Why was Sofia not here? Did anything happen to her? Did Sara do something wrong? Was it because she suggested Sofia was responsible for the deaths of the three men? Even when she said, she didn't suggest it, she did. Both knew it and from the reaction of the blonde, she was right. Sofia had taken justice in her hands and this time justice wasn't her cat. Did this make the blonde a killer? A criminal? The law said yes, it was very clear about it, at least in the first two cases, the serial killer was self-defense. But yes, Sofia was on the other side of the law. Why? And was it the reason why she preferred to stay dead? Officially dead. Like she said, as long as everybody was sure she was dead, nobody suspected her to be a…to take the law in her own hands.   
Was this the reason why the blonde stayed away? Did she think Sara would tell anybody? She promised she wouldn't and she kept her promise. There was no reason for Sofia to stay away, plus Justice needed her. Sara could make him eat yesterday morning, since then it was a fight for every bite.   
A little bit after ten her door was opened and the blonde stepped into the apartment. Justice jumped and greeted her with loud meows.   
"Hi tiger, how are you?"  
"Hungry, he needs his dinner…of the last two days and his breakfast of today."  
"Again? Didn't we agree on you continue to eat? I got you some food, remember the Christmas stuff I bought you last year? I got you some of it, yummy, very nice. Want to have it now?" She dropped her little bag on the counter and got a little package of expensive looking cat food out. "Yummy lamb, you love lamb, don't you? Here, eat it and when you're done you can have a second one." She opened a second one and Justice started to eat like he was starving - which he probably was.   
"How is my favorite CSI doing?"  
"Great, I'll go back to work Wednesday night. It's the agreement Grissom and me worked out. Two nights in the lab and after that I can go out in the fields again."  
"Sounds good. Full time?"  
"Full time and no overtime for the first week."  
"Wise man."  
"I'm just happy I can go back to work, being at home the whole time drives me crazy. There's enough work waiting for me, no reason to sit around and do nothing. Wow, he started the second portion too."  
"He loves it. Should make him full for a while. I got a few more of them in my bag, try to feed him this when he refuses to eat."  
"Okay, but the easiest way is you feed him, then he eats everything."  
"It's what you want because you want me here every day."  
"I do." Sara grinned. "Busted. Can't see a reason you shouldn't be here, or stay here."  
"How about Greg coming here every day?"  
"When I sit in the living room he doesn't come into my bedroom, where you can be during the time he's here and from next week on, I'll meet him outside."  
"Nice try."  
"You always reject me."  
"Poor baby. Are you hungry?"  
"Is there more food in your bag?"  
"Maybe."  
"What is it?"  
"Pasta, frozen."  
"Okay, sounds not too bad. Beer?"  
"Yes." They went into Sara's kitchen and Sofia got a pan out of the cabinet. She poured some water inside, added the frozen pasta dish and took the beer.   
"You know, I'm gonna ask the same question like Friday. Will you stay?"  
"I knew you'd ask."  
"So, got your toothbrush in the bag?"  
"You don't have one for me? Just in case."  
"Actually I do." Sara blushed a little bit.  
"Cute, you blushed. Yes, I stay. Hope you couch is comfortable. Will Greg come over tomorrow?"  
"Maybe. For dinner."  
"All right, keep him out of your bedroom, I'd prefer to leave when it's dark, I do have a wig in there too, but the darkness is much better. Even when with this scare nobody will recognize me this easy. People tend to look away when somebody is scarred."  
"Like I said, still beautiful." Sara stroke softly over Sofia's cheek. "Or do you have the feeling Justice minds your scar?"  
"No, he never minds how I look."  
"Got the feeling I mind?"  
"No."  
"See, a scar doesn't make you ugly, it makes you interesting. It tells people, you've got a story to tell and when they're nice, they might be allowed to hear it."  
"No, they won't."  
"I heard it."  
"You're the only one who knows I'm alive, you've got a special status."  
"Because I caught you." Sara grinned. "And you know how good I'm with the gun."  
"Had you really shoot me?"  
"Yes, but not in the head, in the legs so you can't run. And then, when I had found it was you, I had felt very, very bad. And surprised, but I was surprised anyway. There are still moments when I don't believe this is all real." Sara pulled Sofia in her arms. "It's so good that I can have you in my arms, feel you, hear you breathe. You have no idea how much I missed you, how sad I was."  
"I didn't know I was so important to you."  
"More than you can imagine. Just because I'm not good with words or showing what I feel, it doesn't mean…well…my social skills aren't good."  
"We work on them, they're getting better. Got ice cream for dessert?"  
"No, sorry. Only fruits."  
"Okay, we have something healthy. What about muffins?"  
"Only the ones for Justice."  
"He has to share today. After his big dinner, he doesn't need one."  
"He looks pregnant." Sara grinned. Justice's stomach was very big after he had a dinner for two and lay on his side on the floor and watched them.   
"Yeah, too much food. You're supposed to eat every day two of them, one for dinner, one for breakfast and some dry food in between. There's a beautiful brunette waitress here, who serves you whatever you want, use that. And don't forget to tip her with purring and being nice to her, got me? Be a gentleman."  
"If he eats I'm happy."  
"We'll work on that too. Sometimes I might not come here every day, I need you to eat anyway, Justice. You've got Sara, what else do you want?"  
"Pretty easy, he wants you." Sara grinned. "At one point you've to move in or into the apartment next door. This way we can make a hidden cat door in the door and he can walk to you whenever he wants. Or more, he can come over to me, in case he misses me. He'll be with you all the time."  
"Interesting plans you have, Miss Sidle."  
"That's what happens when I'm forced to stay at home, I come up with a lot of crazy ideas."  
"Looks like. Why don't you set the table and I check our dinner."  
"Deal." Sara smiled. "Hey Sofia?"  
"Yes?"  
"I'm glad you're here and will stay."  
"Thanks. If you behave yourself I might stay again."  
"I take your word for it." Is she behaves? Meant, if she didn't ask questions, Sofia didn't want to answer. The problem was, a lot of questions came up all the time and Sara wanted some answers. 

"You fight to keep your eyes open, why don't you give in and give your body what it wants: sleep." Sofia chuckled. For a while Sara yawned, rubbed her eyes and fought to keep her eyes open. It was a little bit after four in the morning, they had watched three movies and a late night talk show.   
"Too early, I can't go to bed at four when I'm back at work."  
"Since when are you awake?"  
"Yesterday morning, seven o'clock."  
"No wonder you're tired. Come on, time to go to bed, you can sleep until noon or later and tonight you can stay up longer. There's no point in forcing yourself, you don't have a hot case to work."  
"No, I've got a hot blonde on my couch."  
"Are you flirting while you're barely awake, Sara?" Sofia giggled.   
"You started it."  
"Me? I didn't do anything. Come on, time to go to bed for you." Sofia got up and pulled Sara on her feet. "I let you use the bathroom first."  
"How generous." The brunette yawned again and walked into her bathroom.   
"Justice, you have to make sure she gets the sleep she needs. Sara is a person, who ignores her body's urge to sleep sometime, like you do with the hunger. The two of you are one of a kind, always need somebody to take care of you." She kissed his head. "I put some dry food in your bowl and want you to eat it. Tonight you get some more canned food. Listen, I've no idea if I can stay here another night, maybe I've to leave during the night and won't be back the next evening. I want you to eat." She prepared the dry food and poured fresh water into the second bowl. Justice watched her from the couch, like he wanted to make sure, she didn't leave.   
"Done. Shall I…oh, you took care of Justice. He doesn't look like he's hungry."  
"He still looks pregnant. I'm afraid he might not join you today."  
"That's fine, when he eats, he can sleep wherever he wants. Your toothbrush is on the sink."  
"Thanks. Got a sleep shirt for me too?"  
"Sure. I can wash your favorite shirt, when you can convince Justice to leave it to you."  
"I talk with him about it." Sofia went into the bathroom.   
"Or I go and meet Marie, ask her to get a few more shirts because you like them so much. That's an idea too, isn't it, Justice? The problem is, it will be hard not to tell her about Sofia. You know how much Marie and Mark miss their daughter and to see them suffer for no reason because Sofia is alive….which I can't tell them…not fair. But the rule. We have to stick to the rules, don't we?" She put the potato chips and chocolate away, put the empty glasses and bottles away and was happy with the living room. Not perfect, but clean enough.   
"Want to join or stay here?"  
The cat didn't move, only poured and looked satisfied at her.   
"Okay, stay. I bet I make you come over." She smiled and went into her room, changed into her sleep shirt and shorts, put something out for Sofia and went into bed. What a nice feeling to close your eyes, lay back and relax. The moment you got into bed after a long day/night was one of the best moments of the day/night. When you felt how your body relaxed, all the tensions left and felt like the pillows were softly swaying you into sleep.   
"Where is my…oh…" Sofia stopped and looked at Sara. The brunette was already asleep. Five minutes in the bathroom and Sara was sound asleep. Yes, she had been very tired and it looked like as soon as she was in bed, sleep took over. Peaceful with a small smile, the dream Sara had, must be nice.   
"Sleeping Beauty, I told you it was time for you to go to bed." She bent over to kiss Sara like she did the last times, when the brunette fell asleep. A little goodnight kiss and…when Sofia's lips met Sara's, the brunette kissed her back, got her arms around the upper body of the blonde and pulled her on top of her, still kissing. Hands, caressing the back, Sara's tongue gently asking for access to Sofia's mouth, which was granted, they deepened the kiss until the blonde back suddenly.   
"No, we can't do this!" She backed off until she hit with her back the wardrobe.   
"Why?" In Sara's eyes was disappointment, confuse and sorrow. What was wrong? Why couldn't they do this?  
"Because…it's just not…it's not a good idea."  
"Sofia…"  
"No…maybe I should go…"  
"You go and I follow you, I don't care if I wear my sleep shirt and shorts, I'll follow you, barefoot. You can try to run and hide but I'll follow you and find you."  
"Sara, this is…not right."  
"Because we're both women?"  
"What? No, that doesn't matter. It's me."  
"You being dead. To me you're very alive Sofia."  
"If we do this, it will only end up in problems. And one or both of us will end up hurt. I don't want to hurt you."  
"You just did it with backing off and acting the way you do."  
"I'm sorry, I want to explain it to you, want to make it easier for you…"  
"Come back."  
"No, it wouldn't be good."  
"Then we'll both stand around." Sara wanted to get up.  
"Stay in bed."  
"Only if you come here too."  
"You're such a stubborn nightmare."  
"I like you too."  
"Get back into bed." The blonde sighed and went back to the bed. Why did Sara not understand it was wrong? They couldn't do this? In their situation, is Sofia's situation, it was impossible. She did already more than it was good for her, she let Sara know more than she should and when they took it to another level…no, it was wrong. It would end up in pain.   
"It has nothing to do with you, it's all about me. Sara, I…I've no idea for how long I stay in Vegas, I might leave soon and then…you're here…it makes no sense."  
"Why do you want to leave?"  
"Because I don't want to live like a shadow for the rest of my life."  
"And you can't live an ordinary life in Vegas?"  
"No."  
Sara pulled her blanket aside. "Come here, I want you in my arms."  
"Sara…"  
"Only in my arms, that's it. Makes it easier to talk, we can switch off the light and wait for Justice to join us."  
"It's all wrong."   
"Nothing can be all wrong." The brunette pulled the blonde into her arms and made sure, she was under the blanket. "This is better. I like your skin on mine."  
"Sara, we can't do it."  
"Because you have to leave Vegas. I assume, you want to leave for another country."  
"Probably."  
"South America."  
"What makes you say this?"  
"Easy access, the best way to get into a country, that has no extradition treaty with the USA. All South American countries have them now, they might not all be very helpful, but it's a risk. Safe countries are in Africa and the Middle East."  
"Some other countries too."  
"You're not hiding from the mob, not only. You're hiding from the law too."  
"I'm in the arms of a CSI, not a good place hide, if I'd hide."  
"You know this CSI won't tell anybody about you." Sara wanted to ask about the reasons, what Sofia did, she had some ideas, but this wasn't the right place nor moment to talk about it. Now she wanted to know why they couldn't continue with their kiss.   
"There's a risk."  
"There's always a risk, no matter what we do. Why did you kiss me?"  
"I don't know…I thought you're asleep…"  
"You kissed me before, whenever you were here and thought I was sound asleep. I might have been on the edge to sleepy wonderland, but I felt the kiss. Why, Sofia?"  
"I can't tell you."  
"You can't or you don't want?"  
"It was…you looked so cute, I just did it."  
"And you kissed me back when I kissed you."  
"Caught in the moment."  
"Caught in what you wanted. It's not bad and not wrong, Sofia."  
"It is."  
"No. Or did it feel wrong? Tell me how it felt and please be honest."  
"It felt…" Sofia stopped and sighed. Be honest. If she was honest, thing got only more complicated. A lie was easier, would help them not get hurt so much. Maybe in this case a lie was better than the truth. "It felt…" How could she lie when she was asked to be honest? "It felt good."  
"Very good. And I can't see a reason why we shouldn't continue. Yes, you might leave, but don't you think it's already too late for nobody to get hurt?"  
"It will be worse if we not stop."  
"Or gives us a reason to work on a solution. There's always a choice, you can always take the easy way out or look for another one, a more difficult one, but it could be worth it."  
"The only way is…you've to give up your life too, I can't stay here and you can't give up your life, your job, your friends because of me."  
"Why don't you let me decide what I want when it's time for it?"  
"I'd feel bad to ask you this."  
"You feel better when you leave me, knowing I miss you? You want me go through all the pain again? And what about Justice?"  
"I should have never come here."  
"Yeah, had made things much easier for you and your cat would be dead by now. You want that?"  
"No!"   
"Told you, the easy way out isn't always what we want." A little bump on the blanket told them Justice was here, ready to join them.   
"You want to leave your old life behind? Fine, but you still have responsibilities. He's one of them. Like it or not, I'm another one. Because you care for me, you don't want me unhappy. Leaving the city, running away, it will make it easier on the first sight, but your thoughts will be here the whole time. You'll wonder how we are, if he's still alive and what had happened, if you had chose another way. Think about it."  
"But if we try it…it can end up badly too."  
"You say, no matter what we do, it will end up bad?"  
"Could."  
"We do have a problem right now."  
"Which one?"  
Sara pulled Sofia's head closer and kissed her. She never promised not to kiss her, never used these words because she knew, she couldn't keep this promise. First the blonde resisted the kiss, before she gave in and kissed Sara back. Slowly Sara's right hand got under the blonde's shirt and caressed her back. Kissing the blonde felt so good, it felt right. And she couldn't see any reason to stop. 

Her right arm held on to Sofia very tightly. Even asleep Sara wanted to make sure, the blonde couldn't leave, could not leave the bed and vanish out of her life. Nevertheless the blonde tried to get out of bed.   
"I'm awake, you can't leave me while I'm asleep."  
"All I want is a short trip to the bathroom."  
"You come back ASAP? Promise?"  
"Promise."  
"Okay, I trust you." With a sigh she let go of the other woman and looked for Justice, who sat on the blanket and watched her. "Are you hungry? Shall I give you some food?" She left the bed and got one of the small container with the expensive cat food, Sofia took here yesterday. "Look, nice breakfast…lunch." Happy the cat started eating right away the brunette went back to bed.   
"Our tiger eats." Sofia smiled when she came back.   
"You're here, of course he eats."  
"Are you hungry too?"  
"I'm more interested in a few more minutes in your arms."  
"Really?" Sofia got back into the bed and pulled Sara in her arms. "Didn't you promise me you want nothing else than a talk?"  
"I never promised it, no."  
"You played me!"  
"I used words, that could be understood in different ways. The intentions I had were get you back into bed. This is not wrong, Sofia." Sara kissed the hair of the other woman.   
"At the moment it feels right…but it makes things even more complicated. There are a lot of things you don't know, I can't tell you and sooner or later we have to go different ways. It will hurt and if we don't stop this, it will hurt even more."  
Sara was sure, she knew already a lot of things Sofia couldn't tell her and understood the blonde better than she thought. "Vanuatu."  
"I beg your pardon?"  
"Vanuatu is a place without extradition treaty and a lovely island. I always wanted to go there for a long holiday. Vanuatu. Sounds like an ice cream brand to me." Sara smiled.   
"It won't be a long holiday."  
"I know. Can we make a deal?"  
"Maybe. If you don't break the rules again."  
"I won't, I promise. We give us a chance, there's nothing to lose. If we stop now, pretend this morning never happened, it won't work out. We go on and when it's time for you to leave, when you know the time is close, we decide what we do. If I can't imagine being without you, I will come with you, when I feel like it's better for me to stay here, I stay. And if you feel like you want to stay here, you stay."  
"Me staying here means I've to hide the whole time, can go out only at night and stay in your apartment when there's daylight outside. Caught like an animal in a zoo, I doubt I want this for the rest of my life."  
"Then you go and I may or may not join you. We can give it a try."  
"Do you think it will work out?"  
"How much do we have to lose?"  
"Our hearts."  
"Don't know about yours, but I lost mine already. First I lost it, then I got it back broken in many pieces, I tried to fix it and now I lost it again, still not completely fixed."  
"I had no idea you lost your heart."  
"Yeah, to a smug person, who never had eyes for me."  
"No, you never noticed her eyes for you." Sofia kissed the tip of Sara's nose. "We have a deal. We give us a chance and when it's time for me to leave, we decide again. But I've to warn you, this time will come within the next weeks, Sara. I don't expect myself to be here longer than another months or two."  
"I will consider it."   
"Good. Now, lunch or more sleep?"  
"Can I have you for lunch?"  
"Maybe as your appetizer." Sofia slipped on top of Sara and kissed passionately. She wasn't quite sure if this was a good idea, but she didn't want to stop anymore. It felt too good to kiss Sara, felt too good to be in her arms and be with her. And it's something she wanted for a while. 

Thursday, May 10th

Eight hours in the lab felt like sixteen in the field. Sara was bored and hated to stay inside while her colleagues worked the scene, could collect evidence, learn important information about the case and talked to suspects and witnesses.   
"Hey, I've got some new evidence for you." Greg came with a few bags into the room.  
"Great…do you tell me about the case? Or am I only a lab rat, who has not to worry about details?"  
"A woman was found dead in the garden of her house. Shot."  
"Marriage argument gone bad?"  
"She wasn't married, but had half a dozen children. A foster mother. Some of her children were problem kids, who spent some time in juvenile prison. Also for assault. At the moment we suspect she was killed by one of her own children."  
"Foster kids are problem kids." Sara's voice was bitter.  
"I never said that." He knew she talked about her own past.   
"Sounded like it."  
"It wasn't supposed to. Sorry."  
"Do you have some photos? I'd like to get more than some evidence, I want to work with you guys, get a feeling for the case too."  
"Sure. I sent them to you account."  
"Thanks. What do you have for me?"  
"Some fibers I need you to analyze."  
"Did you have a bullet and the weapon?"  
"A bullet, yes. Bobby will love it, it looks like an old revolver. Wild west style."  
"An old revolver? You don't get a silencer for them. Did somebody hear the shot?"  
"Two kids did, yes. She was killed around midnight, by the time the kids were outside, she was dead. Could you also work on her background story?"   
"Sure."  
"I send you the details we have already. Like I said, at the moment the focus is on the kids, they were the only ones around. No boyfriend. We talked to them, apparently she had some unfriendly words with various neighbors because of the kids and the kids themselves seemed not too sad about her being dead."  
"I'll have a look into her."  
"Thanks. Anything else I can do for you? Invite you for dinner tonight? Come over for dinner? How is Justice doing?"  
"He eats."  
"Really? How did you do that?"  
"I found a brand he likes, must be one Sofia bought him on special occasions and it reminds him of her. Or he's done with suffering and accepts me as his new mommy."  
"A life with you is worth a lot, I'm glad he eats. What does the vet say?"  
"We haven't been there. My plan is to go there next week, when he ate for a whole week and has put on some weight. But I think he looks much better already." She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and showed him a photo, she took last afternoon.  
"Yes, he's still too skinny, but he's getting there. Shall I bring some steak for him and me?"  
"Why don't we meet in a restaurant? I spent so much time at home the last days, I want to go out again." And Sofia would be there, at least Sara hoped the blonde stayed after she hadn't been around the last night. It was better she and Greg met somewhere else.   
"Our favorite diner?"  
"Perfect."  
"A date with a beautiful woman, I'm a lucky man."  
"You are." But your beautiful woman is taken by another woman and you have no idea how happy she is about it. And under no circumstance can you guess who the lucky one, who has me in her arms the whole day. The thought of Sofia made her smile. Yes, the blonde had to be at home today, she really hoped she didn't have to sleep alone. The only good thing was, Justice kept eating, even when Sofia didn't show up in the morning. So far the blonde stayed never longer than one night away and it seemed it was okay for him. Or she was in Sara's apartment while Sara was at work and the brunette didn't realized it. After all, Sofia used to be a CSI, she knew how not to leave any evidence. 

Like she was supposed to Sara left at six the lab and went home. Going home on time while she had an active case. Usually she worked a few hours longer, worked on clues and evidence. Today she had sent Greg all she found out and left. With fresh bagels and a box of eggs she entered her apartment. Justice jumped off the couch to greet her with a meow.   
"Hey tiger." She stroke his head. It was nice to be greeted. "Is your mommy here too?" Not likely, he'd be with her and not sit on the couch when Sofia was around. "I got breakfast for her and me, but when it's only the two of us, I get you your breakfast and have my bagel after the shower." She prepared his food and fresh water and left him with it alone to take her shower. With wet hair and only her towel wearing she came into her bedroom and almost dropped her towel when Sofia got up the bed.   
"Hey."  
"Hi, nice to see you."  
"Would have been nice to see you in the shower, but you locked the door."  
"I did? Oh, well, I had no idea you're here. It's not dark outside."  
"See which risks I take only to be with you?" The blonde pulled the brunette in her arms and kissed her.   
"You haven't been here yesterday, if I had to sleep another day without you, I would have worried, you don't come back."  
"Sorry, it didn't work out yesterday."  
"Mhm…you took a shower without me." Sara could smell shower lotion and body lotion. Both recently used.   
"I did to come here clean in case I get pulled into bed right away."  
"Lovely idea, but I thought we might want to eat first, spend a minute or two with your cat and vanish afterwards in my room."  
"Sounds fair towards Justice. He ate?"  
"Yes, I think he understood, even when you don't come here every morning, you come back and he hasn't lost you. Which doesn't mean you can stay longer than one day away. We both miss you when you're not here."  
"Who misses me more?"  
"That's something Justice and me can argue about."   
"No need to argue, I'm here. How is your shoulder?"  
"Better. I can lift my arm a little bit higher already." Sara lifted her arm almost over her head.   
"Good. What can I prepare for breakfast?"  
"I got us bagels and eggs, scrambled eggs, bagels, fruits and decaffeinated coffee?"  
"Perfect. Don't bother with clothes, I'll undress you anyway in half an hour."  
"Yeah, but you enjoy undressing me, I won't ruin your fun." Sara grinned and put her shirt and shorts on.   
"I take care of the eggs."   
"All right. Hey Justice, want some more? Maybe a tiny piece of cheese?" Sara bent down and offered the cat a little slice of cheese, which he ate with gusto.   
"You spoil him."  
"I do and we enjoy it." Sara grinned. "If you want more, or some eggs, you have to get them. Look, all you have to do is bite her, like this." Sara bent over and bit softly in Sofia's calf.   
"Ouch! Hey, are you nuts!"   
"No, I teach Justice how to make you feed him."  
"Don't teach him this crap. Our cat is well-behaved."  
"Our cat?"  
"Yes, we both feed him, he owns us both. People don't own cats, cats own people. They make us do everything for them, feed them, clean their toilette, prepare their bed. We're their slaves and we enjoy it." Sofia took Justice in her arms while she watched the eggs in the pan. "You are a good majesty, aren't you? Very generous."  
"Must be because you're a very sexy slave. I bet if he was a king, you'd be his queen of hearts. Means, he had to fight me for you."  
"You'd fight a tiger for me?"  
"Absolutely." Sara poured the coffee and put the bagels on the table? "Are the eggs ready?"  
"Yes. Time for you to sit on the ground again, your majesty tiger. The beautiful lady and me want some breakfast and you won't get any of our food. You didn't share your food, now we won't share ours."  
"It's hard not to feed him all the time, I'm still happy whenever he seems to be interested in any kind of food."  
"No need to, he eats like he used to, means, no more extra treats for him. We don't want you spoiled and only eating the expensive stuff at one point." Sofia pushed Justice gently off her legs, when he tried to climb up them.   
"Your mother called me early this morning, she asked how Justice is and wants to see me tomorrow. They're thinking about selling your apartment soon and want to get a few of your things into your old bedroom. Looks like they get over the point to keep your apartment as a museum."  
"Good. They need to move on."  
"They need their daughter back and yes, I know it's not possible. Hopefully letting go of your apartment helps them a little bit. I guess she wants me there to have a look, if I want some of your stuff. Somehow she got the impression, your belongings are in good hands when I have them."  
"She's right, they are. Can't think of somebody else I'd wanted to have them."  
"I can: you. In case she wants me to take a few things with me, got anything special I should take? Anything you want? Books? Photos? Movies?"  
"No. You know, when she reads my diary, she will get a clue about my feelings to you. I wrote a few things about you and she knows me, she'll understand."  
"You mentioned me in your diary?" Sara knew she blushed. She had no idea the blonde had been interested in her, or that she was important enough to be mentioned in a certain way in the diary.   
"Of course. CSI with the cutest smile."  
"Why did you never tell me before?"  
"Why did you not tell me you like me? When you pulled me into your arms and kissed me, I thought you dreamed of somebody else." Sofia shot back with a smirk.   
"I am very shy…"  
"So am I, try a better excuse."  
"I also thought you're into men…you mentioned a boyfriend and his motorbike once."  
"You flirted with Grissom, came here because of him."  
"Okay, I get it, we both did everything possible not to let the other one know, what was going on." Sara smiled. "I'm glad that changed. So, did you kiss me because you thought I was asleep and couldn't fight back or because you wanted to do it for a long time?"  
"Both. You looked so cute, I couldn't resist. And I wanted to know how your lips taste for a long time, it was the perfect change. Just a little kiss, nothing more. Like a goodbye kiss. I never thought it could lead to more. Actually, I was happy you didn't wake up the first time and slapped me."  
"Instead of slap you got kissed back."  
"Yes, which was more than I could handle…I still think it's not fair, I do play with your feelings."  
"No, you don't."  
"Sara…" Sofia pushed away her plate and her face turned serious. Time for a serious conversation, with not a happy topic. "I don't want to tell you this but…there was a reason why I wasn't here last night…the way it looks I'll be gone in a month, six weeks, not more than two months."   
Sara swallowed hard. Not more than two months. It was exactly what Sofia told her right from the beginning, warned her from. She wouldn't be here forever and the chance she had to go sooner than later, were high. Now she had a time frame, between a month and two. Not a lot of time.   
"If you tell me it's better when go and leave you alone, I can understand it and won't be mad. It will be painful, but it will be worse in a month or two." The blonde said quietly.   
"I don't want you to leave - not now and not in a month or two. And if you do, I want to leave with you." Sara's word were calm, like she talked about the weather.   
"No, I'm not leaving for a while…"  
"You talk about leaving permanently, I'm aware of that. And I tell you, if you want to leave Vegas for good, I want to be with you. Like you wrote in your diary about me, I thought about you for a long while. It took almost two years until I had you in my arms the way I wanted, not like a friend or colleague, I'm not willing to give this up again. Yes, it has been only four days since we kissed for the first time and usually I'd say, we'll be over it in a week or two, but the feelings for each other are there, not only since four days but for a months, in my case almost two years. I won't be over you in a week or month, I tried when I thought you're dead. It didn't work out, I wished you by my side every night, aware of the fact it was impossible, then it became possible and I don't want to give up on this dream.   
And I really don't believe you want to give up on us. You want me to stay here, or tell me to stay here, because you don't want to feel responsible about what might happen to me, but it's not your responsibility, it's also not mine, my feelings are the one, who tell me to do it. If you tell me, you can't imagine it can work out with us, I will stay, I won't join you if you don't want me in your life. But when you answer, please consider your answer first. It's not about feeling responsible, it's about what you want, what you feel like."  
Sara eyes stayed on Sofia, watching her, trying to read her mind. The blonde was quiet, thought about the words she heard. The easiest way was to tell Sara, she was supposed to stay here, Sofia would go alone. But it wasn't what she wanted. And the little voice in her mind told her, she couldn't ask the brunette to join her, give up all her life.   
"You want to leave Vegas for me?"  
"No, I want to leave Vegas with you. Sofia, I'm not running away, if we find out at one point, we don't want to be together anymore, I can go back or somewhere else. There are no reasons why I can't come back here or go anywhere else, while there are reasons why you want to leave. And I'm sure there are reasons why you want to leave to a country without extradition treaty."  
"Four weeks...it's not a lot of time."  
"Another reason why we shouldn't waste any time. But in case I can't organize everything four weeks and you have to leave, is there a chance we meet somewhere when I'm done here? A place I can find you? Reach you."  
"Mexico. It's very likely I leave from there."  
"Good. Can you stay there for a week or so?"  
"Better than here, yes."  
"Good. Then I think I should think about what to do next. And you have to figure our how we can take Justice with us. There's no way our tiger stays here."  
Sofia smiled a bit. "Thanks for worrying about him. He might have to stay in quarantine for a while when we arrive at the new place, I'm not sure, have to check on that. He will come with us, otherwise we can take him to the vet and tell him, to put him down - which we both don't want."  
"Exactly. One more clue, please do I have to pack for warm or cold weather?"  
"Between seventy-five and eighty-five for the whole year." Sofia smiled.  
"Bikini weather all year around? That's a nice forecast. Did you pack yours?"  
"I haven't packed…which reminds me, if my mother really wants you to get some my stuff, can you take the black and red bikini? It's a nice one, I might want to wear it again."  
"I certainly want to see you in it. Warm weather, all right."  
"What will you do first?"  
"Tell Grissom tonight I want to quit."  
"He won't understand, neither will Greg. They'll ask for reasons."  
"I got shot, it was more than I could take, I need some time away, more than just a vacation. To work through the last weeks. I mean, almost being raped, having a bullet in my shoulder and being attacked by a man while I was at work needs some time."  
"It does. It really does, Sara."  
"Since you're here, since you have me in your arms, I feel much better. I've no idea how it will be when I'm back at a scene, work in the night, but I can use it as a reason why I have to go."  
"You'll miss them."  
"I know but there are no reasons why I can't go back and visit them, are there?"  
"No, there aren't."  
"See. Another question: how will we be able to stay wherever we go?"  
"Work visa."  
"Oh, we have an employer?"  
"We do. I need a copy of your passport to get everything worked out."  
"I make one tonight." A new job, an unknown in a country, she had no idea of, where it was. Not even the name. All she knew, it was a warm place the whole year. Somewhere around the equator, the only place with consistent temperatures. A few hundred miles north and south of it. And not Florida nor Hawaii. 

An hour later Sara had Sofia in her arms while they were in bed. The blonde slept, peacefully snuggled up to the brunette. Justice sat on the blanket and purred in a constant low sound, make Sara feel very comfortable. The thoughts in her head, on the other side, made her stay awake.   
Four weeks, six weeks, eight weeks tops until Sofia wanted to leave Vegas. Had to leave Vegas? And Sara said, she wanted to come with her. She did. Really. But now that she had some time, could think about it, it scared her. Leave Vegas behind. start somewhere new. In a place, she had no idea of. And if she wanted to join Sofia, she wouldn't know where to go until they were out of Vegas. She had to trust the blonde, trust her with everything. Like Sofia had to trust her with her secret. Were they even now?   
One month to quit her job. What if Grissom didn't want to let her go? There was nothing he could do to stop her, was there? Would he believe her? When she told him about her reasons. The attack, the attempted rape, the bullet wound. Would he believe it was enough to make her leave the city? After she complained about staying at home this long and wanted to go back to work. Then again, she had no idea how she reacted when she was the next time out in the fields, it was night, she worked on a trace and wasn't surrounded by her colleagues. Maybe she couldn't take it. A lot of people had problems to go back to the place, or a place that looks similar to the place the incident happened, and go on like before.   
One more month for her and Greg. She'd miss her friend and the fact, she wouldn't see him for a while made it not better. Could he ever come to wherever and visit her? Or did she have to come back to Vegas all the time? How would he react? Was it a good idea to tell him tonight or wait until there was no other choice and Grissom told the team, she was about to leave? A lot of difficult questions.   
One month to leave everything behind. What was she supposed to do with her apartment? Sell it within a month? Impossible. Rent it out? Completely furnished. She needed somebody to look after the place when she had somebody move in. Greg? Was it fair to ask him after she decided to leave? A company? And what to take? How much could she take? A suitcase? More? There were so many things she liked, did she have to do without most of her belongings? Which ones were the most important ones? A suitcase with clothes, summer clothes and maybe one warmer set. You never knew. Her laptop, two or three books, a few movies. What about the rest? Maybe she could sell a lot, make some extra money. Wherever they were about to go, they needed money.   
How did Sofia pay for all these things? How did make her living at all? No work, she couldn't use her old credit card, how did she pay for everything? There had to be somebody with her, supporting her. Who? And was this person coming with them? Was it the same person, who got her out of the river? Somebody must have helped her, must have been there until she was fit again. Like there had to be a place, where she went to, when she wasn't here. A lot of questions and when Sara asked them, she wouldn't get an answer.   
One thing was for sure: when she really joined Sofia, there were a lot of things to do and a lot of questions had to stay unanswered. No walk in the park. 

"Now we have another half an hour before we have to leave to work, we can order another drink." Greg said. "What would you like to have?"  
"I'd like to walk over to the lab with you."  
"Now? Why?"  
"Because there's something very important I need to tell Grissom and I'd like to tell you on our way over."  
"Okay…it's nothing good, is it?" He asked carefully.  
"I'm afraid not."  
"Thought so. You're the whole time quiet, a little bit absent-minded."  
"There are some things going on." She got up. "I get this, no discussion." When she was about to ruin his evening, she could pay for their dinner. Last supper as friends? Horrible thought. She didn't want to lose him. How could she explain everything, that was about to happen to him without telling him about Sofia? Were the reasons, the officially reasons about the incident, reasonable? Or made it all no sense?   
"Shoot." Greg said when they were out of the diner and on their way to the lab. It was only a few blocks away, so they decided to walk.   
"Shoot is a good start…it has to do with me being shot."  
"Are there any problems? Infections?"   
"No, the wound heals very good, no problems there. The problem is more mental. I…I'm not sure if I can go back to work outside, in the fields at night. He attacked me, he told me, he wants to rape me before he kills me. I dream of this a lot. And I think, I'm at a point where it's better to get some time off…time away from all of this."  
"You want to go on a holiday trip? Sounds like a good idea. You should have done this much earlier."  
"No, not a holiday trip. I talk about more permanently Greg. Leave Vegas for good. Or for a long time, not only a few weeks."  
"You want to leave for good? Leave us? Me?" He stopped and looked in disbelieve at her.   
She could see the pain in his eyes and it hurt her. How could she do this to him? To her best friend? What kind of friend was she? Leave him and all the other people, who were her family. More than her real family ever was. Was it right to leave them? Give up on them? And to top this, she'd do it with a lie, a lot of lies and not with the truth. They deserve the truth, When she hurt them, left them, they really deserved the truth. But she couldn't tell him the truth, she promised Sofia.   
"Yes."  
"Why?"  
"Because…I think it's better now."  
"When?"  
"Four weeks."  
"This soon?"  
"If I can arrange everything, yes."  
"Where do you want to go to?"  
"I've no idea." And that was no lie. She had no idea. Another part of her story, that sounded weird. Most of the story did when she left out all the parts with Sofia.   
"You leave into the blue?"  
"Kind of. I might go to Mexico for a few days, I've never been there and from there…I don't know, maybe South America."  
"But you plan to come back." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. He didn't to ask, didn't want to hear, she had no idea if she came back.   
"I absolutely plan to see you here again, Greg. You're my best friend, I won't leave your life for good. All I need is…to go."  
"You thought about it for a while?"  
Since the morning she had nothing else on her mind, the last days those thoughts crossed her mind, when she and Sofia became more than friends, when she realized with every day more, that she didn't want to live without the blonde anymore.   
"Yes."  
"So you're going to sell your apartment and leave nothing behind?"  
"Actually I thought more of renting it out. This way I have a good reason to come back, make sure everything is all right there and still have a place in Vegas. But I've to look what works better. I plan to leave in four weeks, if I can't find somebody, who wants to rent it, only people, who want to buy it, I've to sell it. The upper side of selling is, I've no responsibilities left, don't have to worry about the place, how the new people treat it."  
"Will you take everything with you?"  
"No, only one or two suitcases."  
"Want me to look after your place?"  
"Greg…I can't ask you to do this."  
"You didn't, I asked you. So?"  
"If you do that, that would be helpful."  
"That's what friends are for."  
"Thanks." She hugged him and kissed his cheek. "I love you Greg and I promise you, we'll stay in touch. Okay?"  
"Okay." He looked at her. "Is there somebody? A man, who makes you leave? Wants you with him? A rich man, who wants to show you the world?"  
"No." Sara laughed. "There's no rich man, who wants to show me the world. This is not a fairytale."  
"Good. I hate the stories where rich guys get all the beautiful girls and we normal guys stay behind. Don't want to lose you to a millionaire and his nice beach house."  
"You won't." You lose me to a sexy blonde, who has no money and did a few things, our law system doesn't agree on. Like she's the one, who killed Mundez, our open case. I'm very sure about this, but don't have any evidence. But I love her and in order to be with her, I have to leave and go to a country without extradition treaty with the USA. Sounds horrible, doesn't it? Like a lot of trouble and I want this trouble. More than a life without her.   
"I'm still the only one for you?"  
"You're still the only man in my life - besides Justice."  
"What about him?"  
"I take him with me. Otherwise he stops eating again."  
"Lucky cat. When I stop eating…"  
"No, Greg. You're a smart human, not a smart cat. You understand the fact I'm gone and keep in touch via internet and telephone, he can't."  
"He can sleep with you in the same bed."  
"Yes." And he knows I've got sex with Sofia, he has been there. Something you'll never see, maybe never know about.   
"Do you think you would do the same when the Monday before last never happened?"   
"No." No, without this night she had never found out Sofia was still alive. Only because she had been attacked the blonde helped her, only because she was shot, the blonde came into her apartment to see how she was. Without this night, things were different now. A lot. She'd still believe Sofia was dead, still suffer, be angry with herself because she never told the blonde about her feelings. But it happened what happened and when being attacked got Sofia back into her life, Sara was glad she had been attacked. These minutes of fear were worth being in the blonde's arms, kiss her, be with her. Having the chance to spend the rest of her life with her. 

Friday, May 11th

When Sara came home she found Sofia in her living room, Justice on her lap, watching TV. A strange feeling to find somebody in her living room and at the same time really nice. Coming home to the woman she loved.   
"Hey, don't you two have better things to do than sit around and watch TV? Where is my breakfast? My fresh coffee?" The brunette grinned.   
"You must mistake me with a butler."  
"Isn't a girlfriend the same?"  
"Careful, Sidle."  
"Or what, Curtis?" Sara took Justice in her arms and sat on the free spot on Sofia's lap. "You will punish me?" She kissed the blonde gently.   
"Yes, horrible punishment. Torture you with kisses."  
"A torture with kisses? Hopefully nobody will call AI, I don't want them to stop you. Have you been here a while?"  
"Since midnight."  
"Wow, I should have come home earlier."  
"No, one of us has to work. How did they take it? You quitting the job."  
"Greg's not happy, I told him after dinner as the first person. He offered to look after my apartment when I want to rent it out. Grissom didn't believe I'm serious. He offered me three times a long vacation until he accept me quitting. I'm not sure if they believe the story I told them."  
"It's a good one, more likely to believe than the truth."  
"Yeah, unless you walk into the lab and show them, you're alive. Or leave evidence behind."  
"Leave evidence behind?"  
"Yes." Sara got up to pour them both some coffee and got herself a bagel. "Mundez, Tyler, Ewing, Halliwell. Four people, all shot, all with different weapons, no evidence left behind beside one placed hair on Mundez. The hair of a woman, who died weeks ago and has various cops and crime scene investigators as witnesses." She sat down opposite to the blonde. "I can read evidence, Sofia. Even the evidence, that isn't there. And I can use my head to make connections. They all were criminals. Mundez and the drugs, Tyler laundered money for the mob, ordered killings, Ewing killed three women in one week, tried to kill me too. Halliwell abused her foster children. There were various complains filled, we never got her, but we knew she tortured them. Four people without them Las Vegas will be better off."  
"And you think I killed them."  
"No, I know it. All cases you worked on, all cases that made you angry, you couldn't close them, had not enough evidence. You brought justice to the victims." The cat meowed when he heard his name and jumped on Sara's lap, expecting a treat.   
"Got any evidence, that holds up in court?"  
"No, I don't need it, I won't go to court. You can't send a dead person to trial."  
"You know I'm not dead."  
"I do. And I know these four people are the reason why you need a country without a extradition treaty with the USA. In case somebody else than me finds out."  
Sofia got up. "You changed your mind? About quitting?"  
"I just told you, I quit."  
"Although your girlfriend is a serial killer?"  
"My girlfriend takes the law in her hands, which is a crime. The problem for me as a CSI is, I understand why she does it. It's not what I'd do but I figured out, I have no problems…no, that is wrong, I can live with the fact you did it. I don't love you less."  
"You want me to promise not to do it again?"  
"No. You said you have a few things to take care of, I'm sure you've got a list and will finish this list. If I start digging in your old cases, I might be able to find out who else is on the list, could warn them, but I won't. If you can justify your doing to yourself it's fine. You don't have to justify to me, all I ask you for is, please be honest to me. I don't expect you to come home and tell me who you shot, it's very likely I know by then, no body was hidden. And I might end up working the case."  
"You work the case and don't tell your boss who the killer is."  
"Got no evidence."  
"You know how and where to get the evidence."  
"For that I've to break my promise and I don't break a promise I made to you. Four more weeks, I hope there aren't too many names on your list left and in four weeks we'll leave."  
Sofia thought about what she heard. She knew sooner or later her girlfriend would understand all cases, would see the connection and find out, it was her, who killed these people. And why she did it. The blonde had been afraid of this moment, had been afraid about the moment when Sara told her, she knew Sofia was a killer, a serial killer, and wanted to call the police. That the brunette was not fine but tolerated what she did, was more than she hoped for.   
"I won't say it's me, I won't say it's not me. Lying to you is no option, like telling you what I do isn't one neither. I'd love to keep you out of what I do at night, as far as it's possible. Is this okay with you?"  
"Yes."  
"Good."  
"Please promise to be careful. I don't want to come to a crime scene and find the body of your doppelganger there."  
"We leave Vegas together, I can't die."  
"I hope so." Sara got up. "Any news on our trip? News, you can tell me about?"  
"Only that everything is fine."  
"Does somebody come with us?"  
"Justice."  
"All right, I thought more about a human, but I get you. Too many questions, you can't answer. I've got a mysterious girlfriend…and I like it when you call me your girlfriend. Can you say that more often?"  
"Maybe." The blonde smiled. "Does my girlfriend want more breakfast? Some eggs? Or a pancake?"  
"You make pancakes?"  
"Only for the woman, I dreamed of for years."  
"Which actress is it?"  
"No actress, a very intelligent CSI chick."  
"Is she smarter than you?"  
"You can take things too far."  
"Hey!" Sara bopped Sofia playfully and was pulled into the blonde's arms.   
"Whatever I do has nothing to do with you, you know that, don't you?" She whispered.   
"Yes."  
"I promise you I stay here the next three nights. Entertain Justice and wait for you to come home. Can I do something for our trip? Anything to help you?"  
"Actually yes. I want to sell a few things, you could take photos of it, put it online. Gives us some extra money. And help me put the apartment up on the market. For rent or sale. And I've to look which insurances and other things I've to cancel."  
"Starts to get real, doesn't it?"  
"Yeah…it scares me sometimes but staying isn't an option. Also not staying and go to wherever you are once or twice a year. I don't want to lose you again."  
"I try to make it up to you."   
"You don't have to make anything up to me, I come with you because I want it and not because you asked me."  
"Without me, you wouldn't have all these things to do."  
"Without you I wouldn't be happy." Sara kissed Sofia. She wanted to be with her. No more missing the blonde, she knew now how her lips tasted, how her skin felt on her own, she didn't want to miss this feeling anymore. 

Being in love with Sofia had never been easy for Sara. First there was her jealousy, the blonde could ruin the great relationship she had with Grissom, could make Grissom forget about Sara. When she realized this was wrong, she was able to allow herself some other feelings than aversion for the other woman, only to find out at one point, she liked her. A lot. In fact, more than she wanted. A shock. Sofia Curtis had been on her mind all day and night, she wondered, what the blonde did, how she was, if she thought of her too. Really strange and not like herself. Falling for a smug blonde, falling for a woman, she didn't like. Told herself she didn't like because it was easier not to like Sofia than to like her. About this thing nothing has changed. It would be still easier for her not to like Sofia than loving her. If she hadn't fall for the blonde, she could stay in Vegas, not caring about the other woman. Unfortunately her feelings never looked for the easy way out.   
"I can see smoke coming out of your head." Sofia pulled Sara in her arms and kissed her. "Is a friendly fire or dangerous?"  
"Life changing fire. I thought about much my feelings for you have changed since we first met, how much easier it would be if I still felt what I felt back then."  
"Got a solution?"  
"There's only one solution: I stay with you. Because my feelings have changed a while ago and they're not willing to let you go without me by your side. You know, when you appeared here, when I was over the moon to see you're alive, my feelings told me, it's your second chance, take it. You blew it again, you won't be happy anymore. I tried to fight them, tried to ignore them, knowing they were right, but they weren't what I wanted. Or what I thought I want. Giving in into these feelings meant, give up my old life, break down old walls I built up to keep myself safe and isolated, trying something new, give myself into something new, allow changes. New things are always scary."  
"They are."  
"But without giving them a chance we can't develop. We'll have a new life and by this, I mean a real new life. Somewhere else, without our friends and family, with a new name for you. All new, all happened so fast. A few days ago I lived in the life I knew for years, now I'm looking forward to a new start and know almost nothing about it."  
"I make it not easy for you."  
"No, you don't. You never made my life easy, but my life is better with you. I prefer some challenges with the woman I love over a steady and boring life alone."  
"Guess I'm up for preparing breakfast for you and buying expensive presents for the rest of our lives."  
"No, you're only supposed to love me for the rest of your life." Sara smiled.  
"Can't imagine me doing something else." Sofia kissed her lover softly. "And I hope you tell me if there's anything I can do for you."  
"I gave you a list what to do this morning. The internet stuff in these three boxes, you can work on them while I go and see your parents. Try to get the black and red bikini. Hopefully they're fine with me leaving."  
"They can't stop you."  
"No, but they could say, they want Justice back."  
"They won't. He refused to eat, they know, the only chance for Justice to survive is, when he's with you. Look at him, he looks much better, in a few days he's back to normal. Which is very important, he'll get some sleeping pills for our trip and his body needs to be fit for them. He needs his old weight back."  
"In two weeks I take him to the vet, ask if there're any problems with the transport to…for how long will he be in a box?"  
"For a while, I'm afraid. We can take the car first, but there'll be a longer flight."  
"Do I have to improve my language skills?"  
"You should. We'll be in Mexico, learn some Spanish."  
"Sí. I try to pick up a few phrases. All right, time to see your parents."  
"I wish there was a way to see them too…maybe when we're somewhere else, you can invite them for a visit."  
"We should do that." Sara hugged her lover. This was a very good idea. She hated seeing Sofia's parents so sad and not being able to tell them, their daughter was alive and well. With the thought of, she could invite them to their new place and let them find out, Sofia was alive, it made it easier. At least she hoped it would make the evening easier. 

Like Sara had said, Sofia's parents wanted her to join them in the apartment of the blonde. It was time to let go of it and get the things out, they wanted as a memory.   
"How is Justice?"  
"Much better." Sara pulled her cell phone out of the pocket and showed them a new photo of the cat. "He eats like a normal cat and looks from day to day better."  
"I'm glad you manage to make him get back to life. It's good he's with you." Marie smiled.   
"I love having him around." Should tell them right from the beginning about her plans? About the fact, she wanted to leave? It wasn't good news, no matter when she told them about it, so it was better to get over with it. "Marie, Mark, I need to tell you something."  
"What is it, Honey?" Mark asked.   
"Unfortunately nothing you like. I'll leave Las Vegas in a few weeks. The last weeks were…not good. Sofia's death was a shock, a bigger one than I realized first and the attack two weeks ago, being almost raped and killed…I've got the feeling, I need some time awa from here, need to go somewhere else."  
"You're leaving? For a long vacation?"  
"It's not a vacation trip, it's…I move to another place."  
"Where?"  
"That's the thing, I'm not quite sure. I might travel for a while, or go somewhere new, somewhere where nothing reminds me of what happened here and then look for a new place to live and work. Maybe even another country."  
"You want to leave?"  
"Yes, I think it's better."  
"What about your work? Your friends?"  
"I quit last night, Grissom wasn't happy about it and my colleagues and friends are not happy about my decision neither. I understand them, it's not easy to leave them behind, out of the blue and within a short time. But it might be easier to have only four weeks to say goodbye."  
"What about Justice? If you leave, he will stop eating again and I doubt there'll be another person, he connects to. Without you, he's as good as dead."  
"I'm aware of that, Marie and I want to take him with me, if that's all right with you and Mark. He won't be happy about traveling, but I make sure, he has all he needs and is taken care of. That should be better than leaving him here."  
"He's the last living thing we have of Sofia…but when we keep him with us, he'll end up like before. Sofia wouldn't want that. Take him with you, make sure he's happy. Maybe you end up in a nice place, where he can go out and explore living in the country."  
"I hope I end up in a place like that." She really did and she had no idea.   
"Will you keep in touch?"  
"As soon as I'm settled down I expect the two of you to come over and visit me. Check if Justice and me are fine."  
"We can do that." Marie stroke over Sara's cheek. "You know, Sofia liked you."  
"I liked her too." I love her.   
"Sometimes I wonder what might have happened when she hadn't died. How close the two of you had become…you might not know this…but I read a few things in her diary…she really, really liked you, Sara."  
"I know. I feel the same for her. Still. And I think Justice knows this and it's a reason why he reacted the way he did to me." Not that it had been enough to make him eat, but for them, he was fine now.   
"Very likely. Okay, I expect when you leave, you won't take a lot of things with you."  
"No, I sell or rent out my apartment with all furniture inside, take a suitcase with clothes with me and another one with important things."  
"Anything of Sofia you want to take? Photos? We take some personal things, a few books with us."  
"I have a couple of photos of her. Maybe a few of her clothes, Justice likes them a lot. He still sleeps on her shirt." When Sofia didn't wear it.   
"Have a look into the wardrobe, take what you want. We'll give the rest away to charity."  
"Okay, thanks." Sara went into Sofia's bedroom. She had never been in here with the blonde. Never tested the big bed with her. What a waste of chances. They both wanted it, they both did everything to let the other one not know about it. Slowly she went through the drawer and shelves, found the bikini, two shirts she always liked on the blonde, sunglasses and a cute sleep shirt, that was perfect for the blonde now.   
"Did you like her perfume?" Mark asked when he joined her.   
"It smelled very good on her."  
"There's something left in the bottle in the bathroom, why don't you take it with you?"  
"It's hers, I doubt it will smell as good on anybody else as it did on her."  
"You might be right." He sighed. "It's just not right, as a parent to clean out the apartment of your child. Nature wants it the other way around."  
"Unfortunately mankind is pretty good in doing things, nature doesn't want us to do."  
"Are you leaving because of Sofia?"  
"Yes, she's the main reason." This wasn't a lie. Without Sofia back in her life, Sara had no reason to leave Las Vegas. Or maybe there were reasons, but she wouldn't leave without the blonde.   
"Do you think it changes something when you leave? That Sofia wants you to leave?"  
"She doesn't want me to leave, but I'm sure my life will change when I leave, to a better life. Vegas has been very kind to me, it also has been very rough on me. It's a chance I want to take. You never know if a change helps you until you haven't tried it."  
"True. You take care of yourself and Justice?"  
"I will. And you should try to continue with your life too. Even when it's hard and nothing can ever replace Sofia, she wouldn't want you to suffer, give up all you worked for."  
"We try every day a little step forward, sometimes you stumble backwards. Your heat works on the present and future, your heart is stuck in the past."  
She took her arm around his shoulder. Mark was right, your heart was stuck in the past and it would take a long time until the heart was ready to let go and go back to present and future. Sara's luck was, she knew Sofia was still there, she was with her. Otherwise her heart would be in the past too. 

Another hour before she had to go to work, usually Sara ignored that hour and went straight to work when she was in her car anyway. Today there was a reason to go home. Sofia was there, waited for her.   
"Got your bikini."  
"Thanks. How are they?"  
"Devastated. I was hard not to tell them about you. I invited them to see me at my new place when I was settled and they said, they'd come over. It's okay Justice comes with me. Your apartment will be on the market next week."  
"Okay." The blonde sighed. "Your stuff is online, fingers crossed you get a lot of money for it."  
"Yeah…do you think I should sell all my books, movies and DVDs?"  
"Sell them or give them away. Greg might want some things. They'll remind him of you."  
"Memories…I took two shirts of you and a sleep shirt. You always looked very sexy in this shirts." She showed the blonde the three things she took.   
"And now you want me to dress up for you?"  
"No, I expect you to wear one these things tomorrow morning, when I've got the time to undress you slowly." Sara pulled her girlfriend into her arms and kissed her.   
"A whole night to change my clothes."  
"Sounds like you'll be bored. Why don't you sell the rest of my apartment too? I don't need the books, DVDs and CDs anymore. My music is on my laptop anyway and I read all the books. Everything but the furniture can go."  
"Don't you want to keep anything?"  
"No…it's a new beginning and I'm sure, wherever we go, there will be a shop to buy new books."  
"Why don't I get you an extern hard drive and copy them all on it? This way you can take them all with you."  
"That's illegal."  
"Add it to the list." Sofia grinned.   
Sara rolled her eyes. "No comment."  
"You better go to work and leave the rest to me. I put everything online, if there's something you want to keep, we take it off the internet again."  
"Okay, thanks. Tomorrow I'll get the layout plan of my apartment and see if I can sell or rent it. Might have to talk to an agent too."  
"A lot of work for a trip you have no idea about. I'm sorry for that."  
"I do it because I want it."   
"You do it because you want to be with me."  
"More than anything else." Sara closed her eyes and put her head on the blonde's shoulder. Yes, the next weeks would be very difficult, filled with work, but in the end she would be with her lover, somewhere, start a new life. 

"Did you change your mind?" Grissom asked when he met Sara in the foyer of the lab.   
"About me quitting? No, I haven't changed my mind."  
"You're absolutely sure you want this? I haven't been to Ecklie, you can change your mind and we pretend, you never asked for it."  
She smiled a little bit. It was cute and very nice of him, but there was no way she'd change her mind. Unless…unless somebody found out about Sofia, the blonde got caught by her nightly…killings and their life together in wherever was over before it began. And when somebody found out Sara knew about what Sofia did, she'd join her lover in jail.   
"No, thanks. I'll put my apartment on the market tomorrow."  
"No second thoughts?"  
"I had third and fourth thoughts, they all came to the same conclusion: it's better to leave. Better to leave now while I can hold it together than waiting until I can't be the one I am and lose it all."  
"So I'm really losing you."  
He was losing her? The team lost her, not he…wait a moment. Did that mean? No. Did Grissom…after all these years…after she came here because of him and he made it clear, he wasn't interested in her, could never give up his job for her and now that she told him, she wanted to leave, he said something like this? Something that sounded a lot like he…was in love with her?   
"I come back for a vacation trip."  
"I'll miss you, Sara." His hand softly touched hers. "Please tell me, if there's anything I can do to make you stay."  
This couldn't be true. For years, she had been alone, wanted nothing more than be with him, gave up her old life to have the chance to be with him, he refused to give them a chance, pushed her away. Hell, he even had an affair or whatever it was with a dominatrix. And now he asked her, what he could do to make her stay? This couldn't be true. The chance to make an old dream come true, to live in a dream, she had for years versus to live in a dream, she had the last two years. Somebody really wanted to test how serious she was with her feelings for Sofia, right? Not fair.   
"There's nothing, Gil. It's too late." And she could see in his eyes he understood. He understood there was more to her leaving the place, there was a person and he wasn't the person anymore, who was the most important one for her. Those day were over and he missed a big chance. She could see how he realized it.   
"You made up your mind."  
"Yes, I did. My decision is final."  
He only nodded. "I'll miss you, Sara."  
"I'll miss you too, like I'll miss all the other guys too." Yes, she would miss him like she missed Nick or Cath, there was no difference anymore. He wasn't special anymore, the only left here, who was special, was Greg and she planned on meeting her best friend and if it was possible, even invite him to her new place. If that was okay with Sofia. But Grissom was past and wasn't important to her future anymore. 

Friday, May 18th

"This place is getting empty." Sara looked at her shelves, that were missing a lot of books, DVDs and CDs already. Sofia's work had been very good, she sold over a hundred pieces on the internet already and another hundred and fifty were still online. Even some of her clothes was up to sell.   
"Your apartment gets empty and your account full." Sofia hugged her lover. She had been with the brunette the complete last week. Sara had no idea if Sofia stayed here while she was at work, she couldn't say if the blonde finished her list or if she took a break for whatever reason, but none of the cases she worked or heard of, sounded like Sofia was involved. And the didn't talk about it.   
"Until I have to buy new things."  
"Women love shopping."  
"Not this woman."  
"Oh, come on, I join you. Help you pick some new underwear, help you undress."  
"All you want is sex in the changing room, forget it. Wherever you take me, I doubt they'll be happy about this."  
"You never know. When is your little boyfriend coming over?"  
"Soon."  
"He gets an hour or two with you in the living room, I spend the time in your bed. Or shall I leave?"  
"No, stay. There's no reason for him to go into my bedroom."  
"I'm sure he can think of a few."  
Sara cocked a brow. "Are you jealous?"  
"I should, he has a crush on you and you meet him very often. You miss him more than anybody else in Vegas."  
"I don't miss him enough to let you go alone."  
"No, that's the thing, that makes me stay calm. But he likes you a lot, your boss practically told you he's in love with you…maybe it's better I lock you in your apartment for the rest of the time and don't let anybody come close to you."  
"Soon you have me all to yourself, in a country, I don't know anybody than you. Means, I'll stick to you like glue. And you better organize a big bed for us, I want you in my arms every night. You know, when I was in your room the last time, I thought, it was a waste of time we never tried your bed together. I looked really comfortable and…why don't we spend a night in your apartment?"  
"Because my parents want to sell it? It's on the market."  
"Yeah, but nobody bought it yet. I could tell your mother I want to spend tonight in there to say goodbye to you. They know what you feel or felt for me and I made it clear, I feel the same. I'm sure she understand when I want to be a few hours alone in there. We could test your bed."  
"You're crazy - and I like the idea. Call my mother, maybe you get the keys and we'll have a little party. I hope she doesn't want to join you."  
"Not when I tell her, I want to say goodbye alone. We go there for a few hours and come back here before it's daylight."  
"Yeah, leave before my neighbors walk around the house. I should use my wig and sunglasses. After you took mine with you."  
"Good thinking, I know. I call your mother and you get everything you need into my bedroom. Greg will be here any second."  
"I watch you and if he gets too close to you, I throw something at his head."  
"Leave my Greggo alone, I like him. A lot. And before you start to pout, I love you."  
"You got yourself out of trouble with the last three words. Call my mom, I vanish into your bed, lock the door in case Greg gets the idea, he has to be there too."  
"In my bed with you? Not if that is his fantasy."  
"Two beautiful women with him in bed? I'm sure he'd like that. Every man does."  
"He won't get my woman, I don't share her."  
"Not? Am I your private property?"   
"Yes." Sara pulled Sofia's head back by pulling her hair and get her lips up to kiss her. "You're mine and I won't let anybody or anything get in between us."  
"No reason to get rough."  
"I got the feeling you like it rougher. Get into my bed, woman."  
"She's getting bossy, I like that." Sofia smiled, kissed her girlfriend one more time and went into the bedroom. Time for her to vanish before Greg came into the apartment. 

"Wow, you're successful with selling pieces of your apartment." Greg took a look around.   
"Yes, piece by piece all you see leaves."  
"And in the end you leave too." He said sadly.   
"Yes." She put the pizza on the table. "Please don't try to change my mind."  
"You won't change your mind anyway. You sold a lot of things, you're still selling things. In a few weeks all of you is gone with you."  
"Oh Greg." She took his hand. "We'll stay in contact."  
"Wahoo, a phone call once a month."  
"Is there a chance you want to talk to me more than once a month? I'd like to have more contact with you."  
"I want you to stay."  
"Sorry, that's not possible."  
"Why?"  
"Because…I need to go." I can't lose Sofia again. I lost her once and it was hard, if I lose her now because I'm too scared of the unknown, too tied up to my work and past, I'll never get her back. "Even when I can't give you an explanation, you understand. Tell me, is there anything I can do to make it easier for you?"  
"Can I rent your apartment?" He asked straight forward.  
"Uhm…you want my apartment?" This was a surprise. Why did he ask for her apartment? She had no idea, he was interested in it.   
"Yes. You said, you want to sell or rent it. I'd like to rent it. Or is it sold already?"  
"No, there are a few people, who are interested in it, but when you want it, you get it. Of course." No matter who else wanted the apartment, when Greg wanted it, it was his. She couldn't asked for a better renter.   
"Thanks. This way a part of you is still with me. And I can sleep in your bedroom. Will you stay with me the first night?"  
"No. Do you want me to leave my furniture in here? Or will you take your own furniture?"  
"I want your bed. And the rest. Your furniture is nicer than mine, all I need are my personal belongings. A couple of photos of you. And whenever you feel like getting back to Vegas, a place in your old bed is free for you."  
"Let me guess: with you in there too, as my personal heater."  
"Yes."  
"You're more than welcome to rent my apartment, without me inside. Still interested?"  
"Better than nothing. But I will continue to look for a way to make you stay."  
"Grissom did the same."  
"Did he tell you what he feels for you? After all these years?"  
"How do you know?" Sara looked surprised. Was it an open secret, that Grissom had feelings for her? It was a surprise for her, how could he know? Did he listen? Was he around when Grissom talked to her? She hadn't seen him.   
"It was obvious. He tried to deny his feelings to himself, but the way he looked at you…made me jealous a couple of times. Especially because there was a time, when you wanted him. He blew his chance, now it's too late. My guess is, there's somebody else, somebody, who makes you leave. You changed since…since the attack. And I don't talk about nightmares, I talk about dreamy looks you sometimes have, like your think of somebody special. I know you won't comment on this, you never did, but I doubt you leave Vegas because you're sick and tired of our job. Somebody makes you leave, makes you want to be somewhere else than here. You leave for a love reason and unfortunately I'm not this reason."  
"I leave because I want it. Nobody made me leave. And when I feel like, I will come back. I won't rule anything out, Greg."  
"You've got a whiny friend, a real pansy."   
"I've got a wonderful friend, who is upset because I leave. If you didn't care at all I'd be worried."  
"He wants to live in your apartment, isn't that strange? Like a stalker?"  
"No, it's cute. You tell your landlord, you want out of your apartment and can move into mine. We're going to settle everything - but don't you dare to have loud parties here with dozen of women, the neighbors like it quiet."  
"Not dozen of women in the apartment? That will be a tough one." He smiled a bit. "Can I have Justice too?"  
"No, he comes with me, otherwise he won't eat."  
"Where is he?"  
"Probably in the bedroom." With Sofia, both on my bed, listen to our conversation.   
"I want to see him, why is the door shut? How is he supposed to get out?"  
"He's a smart cat, he can jump on the doorknob." She got up. "Let me see if he wants to entertain you tonight or feels more like sleeping." Hopefully Sofia didn't lock the door. It was impossible to explain to Greg why Sara locked her bedroom door and how it comes, that the key was inside the room. Slowly she turned down the doorknob and relaxed when the door opened. Justice sat on the bed, together with Sofia.   
"Hey Justice, come here, somebody wants to say hello to you." She sent Sofia a hidden smile. The cat got up and came to the door. "Good boy, come on, say hello to Greg." She picked him up and took him with her, after she closed the door.  
"He looks like before, when I saw him the last time at Sofia's place, like he never stopped eating. Hey buddy, how are you?" Greg took Justice and petted him. "You look good, did you have dinner already?"  
"Yes, he did. And ate."  
"Good. Can I try your bed?"  
"No!" No, somebody was already in her bed and even when if it was empty, no.   
"Oh come, a little test."  
"Forget it."  
"Spoilsport."  
If you would know, what or who you find in my bed…under no circumstances she could let him into the bedroom.   
"You don't behave yourself, you don't get the apartment. Think about what you do."  
"Since when do you treat your bedroom like a secret?"  
"Since you try to get into my bed. There's a difference between you in my bedroom when I'm sick and visit me and you in my bed to enjoy yourself."   
"Is your secret lover in your bed?"  
"Don't be ridiculous." Worse, he was right, not ridiculous. Her secret lover in her bed and waited for her. "Why don't you get the dessert out of the fridge?" And forget about my bedroom. 

"That was a short thing." Sara breathed out a sigh of relief when Greg was gone.   
"He really wanted to go into your bedroom." Sofia pulled her girlfriend into her arms.   
"Yes, try out my bed. With you inside."  
"I'm sure he wants you inside the bed. Naked, covered by the sheets, he can pull away to see how gorgeous you look without clothes. Which is, as I can say because I saw you like this, quite astonishing." The blonde got her hands under the shirt of the brunette. "Your skin feels really good. Did you lock your door? And the bolt?"  
"I did."   
"Good." Sofia kissed Sara's neck. "No unexpected visitors. Greg spent enough time in your apartment today and soon, he can spend as much time as he wants here. Now I want to be alone with you." Her hands moved north, found the fabric of the thin bra.   
"Got any plans?"  
"One." With her index finger and thumb she started to rub Sara's left nipple. "I want you in your bed, naked."  
"What happened to we go over to your apartment?"   
"Such a long way…your bed is so close."  
"My bed will be available tomorrow, yours won't." Sara took the hands of the blonde and took them off her body, even when it was hard. "Fifteen minutes. Hold your fire for fifteen minutes and say goodbye to your apartment with me."  
"Great, first I've to listen how a guy hits on you all the time, wants into your bed - with you - and now I'm not allowed to pull you into your bed. Do you have a problem with your bed today?"  
"No, I like my bed, but I want to be in your bed before the chance is gone. Come on, we get over and as soon as we're in your old apartment, I'm all yours."  
"You better make that come true, I want you!"  
"You'll have me." Sara kissed Sofia. It was a good feeling to be wanted. Sofia wanted her, something she wanted for a long time. 

Ninety minutes later they lay in Sofia's bed, covered in sweat, naked and getting their breath back to normal.   
"Your bed is really nice." Sara smiled pulled the blonde onto her arms. "It's a shame we never tried it before. All these years we wasted."  
"Why did you not say years ago you want to be in my bed? I'd be more than happy to show the way to it, test it with you." Carefully Sofia nibbled on Sara's throat, making sure she didn't leave any traces behind. A love bite could cause questions, that could cause danger to her.   
"I had no idea you want me, Misses Supercop. All I was aware of was, you enjoyed drooling men all around you."  
"While you chased after your boss, who was too blind to see…or you weren't important enough for him to give up his life. He had to choose between you and the job, he wanted the job, pretty stupid."  
"A man has to do what a man has to do." Sara let her finger ran over the long scar on Sofia's face. By now she knew, there were a few more scars on the body of the blonde, most of them caused by her fall into officially death.   
"Maybe plastic surgery can remove it. Or parts of it." The blonde said, her eyes closed.   
"It doesn't change the fact you're beautiful."  
"Any photographer for a magazine would tell you different."  
"They've no idea about real beauty, they only know sculptured plastic of life-sized Barbies. If they take the time to look into your eyes, this dark blue like the water in the Caribbean and this smile shinning like the sun on a hot summer day. To me, you're the most beautiful woman in the world and I'm sure if I put your picture on the internet, there are people, who agree with me."   
"You're such a charm, Sara Sidle."  
"That's why you take me with you."  
"That and because you wouldn't let me go without you."  
"Oh come, you can vanish without a trace."  
"I can, yes. But when I do it, you make it personal and when you take things personal, you're getting what you want. I could hide wherever I want, somehow you'd find me. You know I'm alive, you have evidence for it, you can make me a most wanted woman and have a lot of countries looking for me."  
"I prefer to be the only one who looks at you."  
Sofia smiled before she continued with a serious voice. "If they found evidence, that points towards me, would tell me? Warn me? Or let them catch me?"  
Sara took a deep breath. That was a hard question. Not the kind of question she wanted to hear after mind blowing sex and yet, she knew it was on the blonde's mind a lot.   
"I don't agree with what you might do, after all, there is no evidence, except for the placed hair, who did these killings. But if they found evidence, that points towards you, that tells them, you killed somebody, I won't let you know. It's your fight, I don't want to be involved. I hope you're done with whatever you planned to do and there won't be any more cases. Otherwise the possibility you become a suspect and the trip to wherever might be replaced by a trip to jail.  
Sorry. I'd love to tell you, I let you know whatever we find out, but I can't. Not without betraying my own believes."  
"I don't want you to betray your own believes, I want you to be honest and you were honest."  
Sara wanted to add she needed Sofia to tell her there were no more victims coming, but she knew the blonde couldn't do it and she didn't want to force her to do anything she couldn't. Like Sofia didn't ask her to tell her when somebody found evidence about her.   
"When will we leave?"  
"Soon. When you're done with your apartment we can leave. I need to leave tomorrow morning for two or three days, don't worry about me, okay?"  
"Impossible. I have to worry about you when you're not with me."  
"No need to, I'll be fine." Sofia kissed Sara. "Make sure our baby eats."  
"No chance you stay? Or come back after one night?"  
"Sorry, not possible."  
"Okay. You promise you come back?"  
"As much as I can promise it, yes."  
"Sounds like I have to worry a lot."  
"Honey." The blonde slipped on the brunette and kissed her. "I do everything I can to come back, like you do every night. Some things are not in our hands, we know this. Life showed us a couple of times."   
"And I lost you once."  
"You won't lose me again."  
"Good. I hope Justice will eat, he became so good the last couple of days."  
"I call you, you can turn the phone on speaker, he hears my voice, might help."  
"Anything I need to do? To prepare myself for our trip? New life?"  
"Rent the apartment to Greg, pack the things you need, want to take with you and that's it. The rest is take care of. I know it's not easy being out of control, not to know much, but I promise you, it will be worth it."  
"It offers me a life with you, it's worth everything. There's nothing I want more than being with you every day. No matter where. You and me, together in one apartment for the rest of our lives, in one bed together, it's what I want."  
"It's what you'll get." The blonde kissed the brunette again. Being together was what their life together was supposed to be in a few weeks. Soon Vegas and two lives were past and a new place and one shared life were present and future. 

Monday, May 21st

"Cody Kinderman, age thirty, spent eight years in prison for child abusing. Six months ago he was released, over a dozen people called since then and reported him being close to kids and three might have been abused by him within the last month. There was no evidence, but what the kids said, sounds like he did it. All we needed was some evidence to get him back where he belonged."   
When Brass said these words and Sara saw the body of the man, she knew who made sure, this man would never ever hurt a child again. Clean shot to the head, no defense chance for the victim, who was a perpetrator too. And she was sure, there was no evidence left behind at this scene.   
"Sara?"   
Brass's voice got her back into reality. "I bet there are a lot of people, who wants to see him dead."  
"The entire neighborhood. Nobody wants to say a word, saw anything. It's all up to you."  
She could close the case immediately, but what would Brass say when she told him, Sofia had been here and killed the man? His former colleague was an avenging angel, killed the one, who would be killed by a needle, if the law could get them. The blonde brought justice to others, in a way she wasn't allowed to.  
"If there's evidence, I'll find it." She knew, there was no evidence.   
"Good luck."  
No luck needed. Slowly she walked over to the body, took photos. In the background she heard the car of the coroner arrive. David had to tell her TOD, any time between ten pm and an hour ago. She believed the people didn't hear a shot, was sure there was a silencer on the weapon.   
"Hey Sara, how are you?"  
"Hi David, I'm fine. Can you give me TOD."  
"Sure. Looks like COD is obvious. A bullet to the head. We had this quite often the last weeks."  
"Yeah."  
David took the liver temperatures. "He's been dead for five hours."  
"I wonder how many people walked past him, not bothering to call the police." They were in a little park, not many people came here during the night, but Sara was sure, there had been a few people who came along with their dogs, not bothering about the dead man in the grass.   
The brunette looked around. The park offered various spots to take cover, take the shot without being seen and leave unnoticed. Behind a tree, a bush, from a parked car. Come here wait, shoot, leave. Pretty easy. And when you knew how to collect evidence, you knew how to leave no evidence behind.   
"It wasn't a close ranged shot." David's words came into her ears. "No GSR around the wound."  
"He had nowhere to take cover, was an open target here. No need to get close to him when you know how to handle a weapon and have good eyes."  
"Quite cowardly."  
"Hit man style." Sofia wasn't a coward, she was a killer. As much as Sara hated it, her girlfriend killed again. And with each body they found, it was harder for her to let go of it, not to tell anybody. It wasn't right. All her life she had believed only a judge had the right to bring justice to people and not a single person. The blonde had good intentions, probably she saved a couple of children, saved their lives and innocent but…did it justify what she did? Not to a judge. To the parents of the kids here yes. To Sara? Difficult question.   
"You'll find him, probably a member of the community."  
"Somebody, who called the cops because of the man and got angry when nobody removed him. Yes." This was she'd assume if she didn't know, what she knew. Somebody from the community solved the problem his way and didn't have to fear, one of his neighbors would tell the cops. That's why talking to them wouldn't get Jim any further. There were no witnesses and even when Sofia had been seen by somebody, or a person wearing all black, nobody would tell them. In this neighborhood her lover was a hero. 

"The Sheriff is getting nervous." Grissom came into the layout room.   
"Why?" Sara turned away from her evidence. Or what could be evidence.   
"Because there are a couple of unsolved cases, all with a victim, who got a bullet to the head. And all we have is a placed hair of a dead cop. We have a serial killer, who kills other serial killers, drug dealer and child abuser."  
"We have no evidence it was the same person all the time. It looks like it, but beside the MO nothing connects the cases."  
"Do you really believe these cases have nothing in common?"  
"No." No, I don't believe it, I know it.   
"What about evidence?"  
"So far nothing that points towards somebody. I found a lot of evidence, but it's a park, people are there all day."  
"Did you find the place the killer was?"  
"No, Nick is out there, looking for it."  
"You know." Grissom leant on the table. "We have barely any evidence in these shooting cases, doesn't it make you wonder about the shooter? About the knowledge?"  
"Whoever killed these people is a pro. Then again, when the mob orders a pro, you barely find any evidence, that's why they're pros. They know our work, they know how to avoid mistakes. Makes it so difficult to catch them." In their cases they dealt with a former acting supervisor of dayshift, she knew all the tricks, she knew what to do and what to avoid. And she was a cop, she had ways to listen to the police scanner, knew when no patrol car was around.   
"I want this person, I want him to stop killing bad guys and want us to bring them to justice."  
"The way it's supposed to be."  
"Find out who did this." Grissom looked at her for a second. "How far you with organizing your new life?"  
"Almost done. Greg takes over my apartment, I'm about to sell the things he doesn't want."  
"Where will you go to?"  
"First south, then I've no idea." It was the truth. She knew they'd leave from Mexico.   
"I hope you'll stay in touch."  
"Of course."   
"Good." He looked like he wanted to say more, something personal, decided against it and left the room. This was Grissom, he wasn't capable of talking about his feelings, didn't show them. You had to guess and work was above everything. She wondered, if he played with the idea to join her, go with her. He asked her to stay, give up her plans, would he give up his plans for somebody? Like she did for Sofia? Sara couldn't think of it.   
Sofia. She had to talk to the blonde. This wasn't right and Sara…Sara couldn't be quiet any longer. As much as she loved Sofia, she really did and she really wanted to spend her life with her, but these killings had to stop. It made life very complicated for Sara, she felt bad, like she was a abetter. She was a CSI, she knew facts about the case, case breaking facts and had to hold back for her lover. It wasn't right.   
She turned her attention back to the evidence. What if she really found something, that pointed towards Sofia? She told the blonde, she'd handle the evidence over, let her colleagues know about it. Would she really? Could she hand Sofia over to Jim? Wasn't it a betrayal? It would end their life together before their life could start. And what if Nick found something? He looked for the place, the shooter was. When he found evidence, that pointed towards the blonde, made them find her, what would she do? Tell her colleagues, she knew about Sofia? Knew what the blonde did? Or keep it quiet, knowing the blonde would never tell them about Sara's knowledge. This was difficult and got her into trouble. Trouble with herself. She really had to talk to Sofia. Hopefully the blonde was back home today. She should, she said two or three nights, it had been night number three, when she kept her word, which Sara expected, she was in Sara's apartment when Sara came home. 

It was noon when Sara came home. Like she hoped, Sofia was there, sat on the couch, Justice on her lap. No TV on, no radio on. If somebody was at Sara's front door and listened, there was no sound coming out of the apartment.   
"Hey."  
"Hi, you worked overtime."  
"Yes, somebody killed a child abuser. Amazingly nobody saw anything, all neighbors were busy watching TV the whole evening, nobody took their dog out."  
"Football was on, the Wildcats won. Nice game."  
"How do you know?"  
"I was there, watched it."  
"Really?" Sofia watched a football game?   
"Yes, I like football. Why are you surprised?"  
"Because you were busy something else last night."  
"Got evidence?"  
"No, you left nothing behind, which is enough evidence for me." The brunette sat down, leaving some space between her and the other woman. "Sofia, listen…I can't do this anymore. I can't go to crime scenes and know by the second I'm there, you were there too, you're the reason why I'm there. I just can't. You either have to stop doing this or…I've no idea how long I can be quiet. Yes, you killed not nice people, in a way you made Las Vegas a better place, but it's not…right. You were…you are a cop…you know it's wrong. And I feel bad working cases, wondering all the time what to do, when I find something, that points towards you. I told you, I will report it, will let the rest know, but…I'm not sure if I can really do it. I love you, I want to be with you, but this…this makes it hard and I…" She couldn't fight the tears anymore. The whole night she fought them, made them stay inside her, hid them. Now they came out and she couldn't stop them anymore, no matter how hard she tried, how mad it made her to cry.   
Immediately Sofia slipped over and pulled her lover into her arms. "It's okay." She caressed the back, stroke softly over it, kissed the hair of her girlfriend.   
"It's just too much. I'm torn."  
"I'm sorry." Mostly for Sara always ending up at the scenes she caused. She wondered if it was a kind of test for them or why fate let the brunette end up at the place, where the blonde ended a life before.   
"I can't do it anymore."  
"You don't have to."  
"What?"  
"You don't have to." Sofia replied calm.   
"You…?"  
"I won't leave your apartment anymore. Only for a little shopping trip and organizing the rest of our trip. Or when Greg comes over. That's it. I won't have a gun in my hands anymore, no more crime scenes."  
"Are you…?"  
"I'm sure and I won't cause you any more trouble. I'm sorry I did, but…these were things I had to do. To leave Vegas with inner peace. I didn't manage to get these people off the street when I was a cop, I did it now. My mission, if you want to call it like this, is over. No more killing.   
"Thanks." Sara looked with red eyes at her lover.   
"I never wanted to hurt you, Sara. I love you." Softly Sofia lifted the head of the blonde and kissed her gently. "I'm sorry for the trouble I caused."  
"The Sheriff made you highest priority."  
"He did? Oh well, it's nothing I want, I want to be your highest priority."  
"You are."  
"Good because you're mine. Are you hungry?"  
Sara shook her head.   
"Did you eat?"  
Again she shook her head.   
"In this case you have to eat, no matter if you're hungry or not. Like Justice, when it's time to eat, you eat. I got us some spring rolls and a salad."  
"Okay." Want to eat it here on the couch? In my arms?"  
"Yes."  
"Then you get it here in my arms." Gently Sofia stroke with her hand over the cheeks of the brunette, caught a lonely tear off the chin and kissed her again. "It's about time we leave, I want us to have a new life, without sorrows."  
"Do you think a life without sorrows is possible?"  
"If it is possible, it's a life with you."  
"Greg takes over my place in two weeks, in ten days is my last work day, then we can leave."  
"Good. Did you decide what you want to take?"  
"Yes, two suitcases. Is that okay?"  
"Of course. What about our tiger?"  
"I get his medication next week, he'll sleep."  
"And be with us, in the cabin. In a box, I checked with the airline. It's possible. There's only one little change of plans."  
"Which is?"  
"We won't fly from Mexico, we fly from Los Angeles. All flights to our destination from Mexico go via an American city, no point in going down there and fly back here. We board here, change flights ones and be there. With stopover a little bit over twenty hours."  
"Wow. Poor Justice."  
"Not an easy day for him, but the only way. We'll be with him all the time."  
"You won't fly as Sofia Curtis I assume."  
"No. I get another name, short dark hair and an accent."  
"For the flight or the whole new life?"  
"The flight."  
"Good. I like the long blonde hair. It's sexy. Especially when you wear your bikini."  
"I keep that in mind." Sofia smiled a little bit. "And now I make you lunch, you're hungry, I can hear your stomach."   
"Thanks." Sara pulled the blonde into her arms and held to her for a few seconds. No more dead bodies, no more crime scenes caused by the blonde, she promised and when she promised it to Sara, she'd keep her promise. Now Sara had to get over the last ten days somehow and then they could leave. Twenty hours and a stopover, quite a distance. She wondered where their destination was. 

Sunday, June 3rd

Sara's hand found Sofia's and squeezed it gently. They were on their way, better, they were almost there. All in all they were twenty-four hours on the road, at a roadhouse outside Vegas the brunette picked the blonde up in her rental car, after she sold her own car. Sara's two suitcases, a backpack and a duffle bag with Justice's things, him in a box, the backpack of the blonde fit in the small car without a problem and they were on their way west. At this time Sara had no idea they'd go even further west.   
Now, after fifteen hours in two airplanes they were close to their final destination. The first time Sara found about their destination was when she got her ticket and the smile on Sofia's face told her, it was picked because of Sara. Ice Cream Island. Wasn't this a place everybody wanted to live? It sounded nice and that all what Sara knew about the place. Plus the fact, there was no extradition treaty with the USA, which could be important one day. Not that there was any evidence pointing towards the blonde, who was officially still dead. All crime scenes left the investigators without anything to hand over to the police. All suspects came out clean, all their alibis checked out. Of course. And Sofia kept her promise, she stayed in Sara's apartment and no more bodies were found, that told the brunette, the blonde were responsible for them.   
"I wonder what is laying in front of us." The brunette said quietly.   
"A future together."   
"Do you have to make a secret out of everything? Don't you think it's the time to open up and tell me what's going on? After all, it's also a little bit of my business."  
"Is it?"  
"Yes." Sara heard all the tease in Sofia's voice. The blonde enjoyed keep her guessing about everything.   
"There'll be somebody picking us up at the airport, drives us to our new home. We have a few days to get used to our new home before everyday life gets us back into its fingers and makes us work all day, come home at night, tired, ready to fall asleep in each others arms."  
"I like the last part most. And I hope we can squeeze in a few trips to the beach, after all, the destination you chose is made for long nights on the beach."  
"You chose it. It's your ice cream island. Your idea, I only made it happen."  
"With help."  
"You don't think I'm mighty enough to organize it myself?" Sofia chuckled.   
"I believe you could, but I know - without having hard evidence - you had help. The whole time, it's why you survived."  
"Lucky for you, you don't have to look for evidence anymore. Those days are over, you've got a new life, one without evidence and - I hope - without crime."  
"What am I going to do for a living?"  
"You work with me. In a hotel. Head of security. We make sure that people in four hundred rooms feel safe, have a wonderful holiday and nobody gets in the hotel, who isn't supposed to. With our references, law enforcement, we're perfect for this job. And I can stay a little bit in the back while you'll be the face; a pretty face."  
"I like your face more."  
"You're cute." The blonde bent over and kissed her lover shortly.   
"I'm tired, I stink, I want to move and soon I might get crazy because the guy in front of me has his seat down all the time. Can I have some of Justice's medication?"   
"No." Sofia chuckled. Their cat was asleep most of the time, the medication worked pretty good, kept the cat between sleep and being awake and very calm. "I can offer you some chocolate, it's also good for your nerves."  
"Chocolate, in your world, is good for everything. I wonder if they have chocolate on Ice Cream Island."  
"Of course they do! Otherwise we wouldn't go there! I checked that out. All places without chocolate were a big 'no-no'. And please, it's Ice Cream Island, how could it not have chocolate? Lots of chocolate and ice cream. Chocolate ice cream for breakfast."  
"Bridget." Sara smirked. Somehow she knew, their new place had to have ice cream otherwise her better half couldn't be happy. 

Another five hours and they were in their new home. A little house, two rooms, a kitchen, bathroom, living room. There was a big garden behind the house, a wild one, but they fell already in love with it. Jamie, one of their future colleagues, picked them up at the airport and took them to their new home.   
"The fridge is stocked with fresh fruits, milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs, some sausages, water and a bottle of cold beer for each of you. In the cupboard are the basic things: bread, flour, salt, pepper, potatoes, rice and noodles." He said.   
"Cool, thanks." Sofia was released they didn't have to go shopping.   
"For your tiger is cat food there too. I left you two maps with important places of the island on the desk. Shopping malls, rental car service, car dealer, closest shops, doctors, all you might need."  
"Very good. I bet Justice is hungry when he is really awake."  
"Do you need anything else? The boss wants you to stay at home the next two days so you can have some time to get used to the time difference and new place. He will drop by tomorrow, have a look how you are. My cell phone number is written next to the landline, call me if you need anything or have a question."  
"Thanks, I guess all we need first is some sleep." Sara said. She was tired and all she wanted was to sleep for twelve hours.   
"Your beds are waiting. Sofia, I believe you have got something for me."  
"True." The blonde got a little parcel out of her backpack.   
"Thanks. Have sweet dreams, ladies. Welcome home."  
"Thank you, Jamie. It feels already like home." Home sweet home. A new home, far away from their old lives. Her first home with Sara. Something she often dreamed of, never thought it would really happen.   
"We're here, we're home." Sofia smiled. "Welcome home, honey." She pulled Sara in her arms and kissed her.   
"Yes, our new home. Thanks for making it possible."  
"Thanks for coming with me. I know you gave up a lot."  
"I get more back in return. A life with you. On an island. The beach isn't too far away, is it?"  
"No, a five minutes walk. What would you like to do first in our new home?"  
"Close all doors and windows, let the tiger out of his box."  
"Good idea." Hand in hand they walk to the front door, closed it and checked all the windows and the back door. There were strong fly-screens in front of every door and window, enough to make Justice stay inside the house without closing the window. Then Sofia opened the box and pulled the cat outside. Sleepy and irritated Justice took a look around.   
"Hey Justice, this is your new home. I'm sorry you had to be drugged the last hours, but it was better for you to sleep most times. Now you can wake up and explore your new home. I saw a nice kitty box for you in the bathroom and we prepare a bed for you in the bedroom. Actually we've got two bedrooms." Both rooms were prepared to be bedrooms, with queen sized beds.   
"Yeah, I think they expect us to sleep in these beds and not together in one." Sara furrowed her brows.   
"We won't live up to their expectation. Choose a room, there's no way I don't sleep in the same bed you sleep in."  
"Ditto. Lets prepare some food and water for the tiger, he must be hungry." To agree with Sara Justice meowed. He sounded a little bit rusty.   
"Oh dear, my poor kitten." Sofia sat him on the ground and watched walking his first steps in his new home. He looked like a sailor back on land after months on a board. Or a drunk person on his way home early in the morning.   
"Careful, you look like you want to fall over." Sara warned the cat and put a bowl with water on the floor, which Justice used immediately, but left as soon as there was food. Even when it was only dry food, he was hungry.   
"Our baby is hungry, we shouldn't give him the canned food right away, let him start with this, until we can be sure, his stomach is fine with food. Are you hungry too?"  
"We had food all the time in the plane, all I want is a shower and a bed." Sara yawned.   
"Want company at any of these places?"  
"Both of them." She pulled the blonde with her into the bathroom. "We can unpack later. The doors are closed and locked, the tiger has food and water, now it's time we get ready for bed. Short shower long time in bed?"  
"A great plan." They kept their shower under five minutes, only washed away all the smell of the plane and didn't bother with clothes on their way to the bedroom. Justice finished eating and walked around the house, carefully checking out every corner. When he saw them vanishing in one of the bedrooms, he followed them and jumped on the bed.   
"Are you tired too, Justice?" Sara asked, pulling Sofia in her arms. A meow as an agreeing answer the cat walked over to their heads and lay down next to them.   
"You can sleep here, of course. I think we all need the bed for a couple of hours. Tomorrow, or whenever we're all awake again, we go and buy you a blanket and a bed, even when I'm quit sure, you prefer to sleep on our bed and it won't be the empty bed we have." Sofia smiled. The second bedroom could be his, but her cat preferred to be with her.   
"No, he prefers being with his mommy. I can understand him." Sara smiled and closed her eyes. Finally there, finally the time and space to lay down, close her eyes and let sleep take over.   
"Me too. A bed without you is worth nothing." Sofia kissed her lover gently. "Sleep tight, I love you."  
"Love you too." And with these words they fell into a deep sleep and dreams of their new life together. 

Monday, June 4th

Sara felt Sofia in her arms before she opened her eyes. The blonde was here, next to her, in their new bed. She had no idea how long they slept, she only knew, it was the best sleep she had in ages. And probably the longest. With Sofia in her arms.   
"I see you're happy."   
"Mhm, yes." She pursed her lips and got the kiss she asked for. "Our new life, I love it already. The whole…did we sleep the whole night? Is it the next day, whatever the next day is, I lost count or is it still the same day?"  
"Well, it's seven in the morning, I guess it's a new day. We slept twelve hours." Sofia looked around the room. The curtains didn't turn the room very dark, they had to replace them with thicker and darker ones. Justice sat on the blanket, looked at them and to Sofia, he looked not unhappy.  
"Hey tiger, how do you like your new home? Did you have a look around while we slept?"  
"I bet he had. He slept the whole time in the planes, he was rested. Where is our breakfast, Justice?" Sara asked amused.   
"Sara, it's not the cat's job to prepare breakfast, the cat has his servants for it. Go and prepare his breakfast."  
"No, you're his mommy, you leave the bed."  
"As long as he doesn't say he's hungry I stay in here….for five more minutes because I'm hungry. How do you feel about toast, eggs, some fruits?"  
"Sounds good to me. Can we have breakfast at the beach? I'd like to test the water. It's a shame I had no idea we go to Ice Cream Island, I should have taken my surfboard with me. The perfect place for it."  
"We get you a new one. Breakfast on the beach, a little swim, shopping time. At one point our new boss will come along."  
"Talking about our boss…what was in the parcel you gave Jamie yesterday?"  
"Not what you think it was." Sofia smiled.   
"How do you know what I think?"  
"You think I played drug mule, from serial killer to drug mule. Let me tell you, you haven't lost your lover to the wrong side of the law. Remember, we'll be security ladies here, we play on the legal side of the law."  
"Sorry." Sara blushed a little bit. Yes, she thought her lover got drugs into the country. "I thought…this was expensive and you paid for it…somehow…and you didn't work in Vegas the last weeks, months…"  
"I did, just not as a detective. And to keep you out it, in case the government here changes it mind and sends me back to the USA, I won't give you any details. But there weren't drugs in the parcel, we got checked various times, Honey. I transported chocolate into the country. Jamie had the order to get a big M&M collection to the person, who organized everything for us here. You can say, I blackmailed or paid somebody with M&Ms. Can you live with this knowledge? And the fact, you have to bring a parcel of them to here whenever you fly back to see boyfriend Greg."  
"M&Ms? Seriously?"  
"Hey, the USA have some M&M flavors, you don't get here and what a real fan is…I bet we'll miss a few things too."  
"The most important thing is here, my kitten Justice." Sara smiled and slipped out of the bed. "Come on, tiger, I get you some breakfast. I love you and for you I leave the bed."  
"If you loved me, you'd stay." Sofia grumbled.   
"Sorry, you had me for twelve hours, now it's Justice's time. Lets test the canned cat food here. If it' not good, we send mommy Sofia back to the USA and get you your favorite brand. She knows how to transport food into other countries."  
"I know much more than that." Sofia got out of bed and followed Sara and Justice into the kitchen. Her cat was right beside Sara, meowed to tell her, how hungry he was.   
"Enjoy your breakfast, Justice." Sara smiled when the cat ate. Since Sofia was back it wasn't special anymore, but she was happy every time she saw him eat. "We should find some clothes to dress in case somebody comes along the window."   
"I like you naked in the kitchen." The blonde grinned.   
"You like me naked everywhere, that's not the point. We don't want to open our boss the door in our birthday suit and I don't want anybody else than me seeing you naked." Sara opened her suitcase and pulled out her bikini. It was warm enough to wear it and when they were about to go to the beach anyway, she could it wear it right away.   
"Want me to wear my nice black and red bikini?"  
"Yes and I need a baseball bat to get all the guys away from you, who will hover all over you."  
"As soon as they see my face, they won't be interested anymore."  
"Will you stop saying bullshit like you're not beautiful because of the scar. I don't want to hear such a crap, you're the most beautiful woman in the world and if you dare not to agree with me, you're in trouble. Remember, you're caught with me, you're in my hands. We share a house, I know all about you and you're forced to spend the rest of your life with me. Be nice, don't make me angry." Sara grumbled.   
"I'm forced to spend my life with you?" Sofia looked amused at her lover. She didn't know she was forced to be with Sara, so far it felt like, she did it because she wanted it.  
"Yes, you are. I can blackmail you, force you to stay with me."  
"It's cute you want me with you this much, but you can't force me. Nothing can happen to me here, they won't send me to the US and you don't have evidence for your knowledge. Besides, you love me and don't want me in jail. You can't force me to stay with you, I want to stay with you because I love you."  
"Love you too." Sara smiled and pulled the blonde into her arms for a long kiss. "And I will never force you to anything."  
"I know, but it's cute when you try to be a bad ass girlfriend. I don't believe you when you act like it, but it's cute. Like Justice when he tries to be a tiger."  
"Hey! Careful I might bite." Sara's eyes became narrow. "Do you think Justice is fine without us around for an hour?"  
"No, he'll miss us, but he has to get used to the fact to be alone for a while. When we work, he's alone too." Sofia watched her cat eat. The first days he might not feel comfortable alone in his new home, but then he should be fine. 

Being back on the beach made Sara smile. She missed the salty water, the sand between her toes and the waves so much. As a San Francisco girl, with the beach in front of her house for her childhood, living in Vegas, in the dessert, made her feel the whole time like something was missing. Now, when she stepped out of her new home, she could smell the ocean and after five minutes, she stood in the ocean. Exactly what she always wanted, a place close to the ocean, a long beach and waves for her and her surfboard.   
"Not a private beach?" She asked the blonde amused when she saw other people on the beach. They came here and had to share the beach? What kind of organization was this?   
"Sorry, couldn't afford a private beach with M&M." Sofia shot back dryly.   
"A real tragedy, no sex on the beach, only to drink, not to enjoy. Bugger."  
"We can have sex in the garden, all we have to do is clean it up a little bit, make sure the neighbors can't look inside and it's our under the sky love making place."  
"The garden will be some work, yes. The whole area needs some attention, we need a better security system and I want a hammock in the garden. A big one for two, so we can sleep in there."  
"Nice plan. We'll have all the time in the world to make this place our home. It's our house, we bought it and we can do with it, whatever we want. No rules."  
"I want one bedroom gone. Or changed into a guestroom. Whoever thought we sleep in two bedrooms was very wrong."  
"They have no idea we're more than friends, that's why they prepared two bedrooms. We make an office/guestroom out of one. In case we get guests."  
"Your parents."  
"Are you sure it's a good idea?"  
"Yes. Like you said, you're safe here, nothing can happen and I really doubt your parents will call the police and try to get you back to Vegas, in prison. They love you and when they find out, you're alive, they'll be over the moon. There's no rule, that says, they have to know about what happened in Vegas after you vanished."  
"My mother is a captain, she will have some ideas."  
"Your mother is more your mother than a captain, she won't care about what happened if she can have you back for it. Think about it."  
"I will. It has to be you, who invites them over anyway."  
"No problem, I told them, I want to see them. We settle down here, organize ourselves, the job, the house and afterwards we or I can invite your parents, if you like."  
"Your in-laws." Sofia grinned.   
"As far as I remember we're not married."  
"Might happen one day."  
"I doubt Ice Cream Island allows it."  
"No and they're not a supporter of same sex marriage or relationships. If we get in trouble for holding hands, the law doesn't care. I'm afraid kissing on the beach, holding hands at work, isn't the best idea."  
"We can't have it all." Sara sighed. "We need to work on our visa stuff too, don't we?"  
"Yes. A few trips to Port Vila are necessary. Our boss did a lot, but for some things we've to be there. As friends, who want a change of their lives."   
"It changes our lives, yes, but if there are guys coming to our door every day to date you, I kick them out anyway. Maybe we might be only friends for the public, this doesn't mean I accept them hover all over you. You're mine and I don't share."  
"You're totally sexy when you're angry, did anybody ever tell you this? I love you, Sara. And believe me, I make it very clear, that I'm not available in case anybody wants me."  
"Good, start with the surfer in the red shorts, he stares at you all the time."  
"Maybe he counts scars. Eleven in total."  
"He can't see all of them and if he ever comes close enough to see them, I drown him in the ocean."  
"Make sure you leave no evidence behind, it's difficult to find a country without extradition treaty to the USA and Vanuatu. And most of the human rights we want. I'm not sure we can live in Afghanistan together. That might cause a lot of trouble and our sudden deaths."  
"No, Vanuatu it is. Ice Cream Island. Care to get an ice cream for us?" Sara cocked her head. "Chocolate?"  
"As in a date?"  
"A date to share ice cream, yes."  
"I'd love to have a date with you. Come, imagine I hold your hand while we walk down the beach, feet in the ocean, to the little ice cream shop over there."  
"Don't forget to put a few kisses in this imagination." Sara smiled softly. No holding hands, no kisses, but a life together. They'd find a way to make their new life good. They had each other, what more could they ask for?


End file.
